A police inspector and a 21-year-old villager were killed as a mob went on the rampage against alleged illegal cow slaughter in Bulandshahr district of western Uttar Pradesh on Monday, police and district administration officials said.
The state government has ordered an SIT probe, besides inquiry by the additional director general (intelligence) and a magisterial probe, ADG (law and order) Anand Kumar said in Lucknow. The separate probes were announced after chief minister Yogi Adityanath pulled up senior police officers.
Additional director general of police, Meerut zone, Prashant Kumar said the protesters from Mahaw village and nearby areas pelted the police with stones and indulged in arson, setting several vehicles and the Chingarwathi police outpost on fire.
Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, who was posted at the Syana police station as station house officer, died in the violence, he said.. Bulandshahar district magistrate Anuj Kumar Jha also confirmed the death of the inspector.
The SHO’s death was caused by a blunt object, said the ADG law and order, quoting doctors who conducted a preliminary examination.
He also said the youth Sumit died of a gunshot wound amid firing by both sides and a post-mortem report would reveal whether it was a police bullet or another one that killed him.
{{/usCountry}}He also said the youth Sumit died of a gunshot wound amid firing by both sides and a post-mortem report would reveal whether it was a police bullet or another one that killed him.
{{/usCountry}}An FIR was lodged against seven people, whose names have not been disclosed, he added.
Senior superintendent of police K B Singh said heavy police force was deployed in the area to bring the situation under control.
The violence erupted 40 kilometres from the venue of the Tablighi Ijtema, a three-day Islamic congregation attended by 15 lakh people in the district and six to nine lakh of them had already left. Several companies of the Provincial Armed Constabulary and the Rapid Action Force were deployed for the congregation.
The trouble started after villagers found some body parts of cow and its progeny in a jungle in Mahaw village, the ADG Meerut said. Angry villagers and members of various Hindu groups brought the animal remains in tractor-trolleys to the Chingarwathi police outpost and demanded action against the culprits. They raised slogans against the police administration, blocking the Bulandshahr-Garh highway.
District magistrate Anuj Kumar Jha said police and senior officials tried to reason with the protesters but they refused to budge. As sub-divisional magistrate Avinash Kumar Maurya arrived on the scene, protesters turned violent, pelting stones on policemen and indulging in arson. The inspector sustained head injuries in the stone-pelting. The profusely bleeding inspector was rushed to the Aurangabad community health centre (CHC) where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
The district magistrate said the police had to open fire in self-defence. Meerut divisional commissioner Aneeta C Meshram said she was rushing to the spot to take stock of the situation.
Jha and senior superintendent of police K B Singh are camping in the area.