Bulandshahr: Slain cop’s family alleges political pressure behind arrest delay

The family of inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, who was killed in Bulandshahr violence on December 3, has alleged that there was political pressure in the case due to which the arrest of the three main accused was being delayed.

The family of inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, who was killed in Bulandshahr violence on December 3, has alleged that there was political pressure in the case due to which the arrest of the three main accused was being delayed.

The family of inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, who was killed in Bulandshahr violence on December 3, has alleged that there was political pressure in the case due to which the arrest of the three main accused was being delayed. (PTI)

“Even after 15 days of my husband’s murder, I don’t know who killed him. What is the reason for delay in the arrest of key accused? I want justice,” said Rajni Singh, Subobh Singh’s widow.

Subodh’s younger son Abhishek Pratap Singh said, “The incident took place on December 3. A fortnight has passed but the police have failed to arrest the key accused Yogesh Raj (district convenor of Bajrang Dal), Shikhar Agarwal (BJP’s Syana youth wing president) and Upendra Raghav (former president of VHP’s Syana unit). This clearly suggests that they enjoy political patronage.”

The Bulandshahr violence, which occurred over an alleged cow slaughter, resulted in the death of Singh and another youth.

Subodh’s elder son Shrey Singh said the arrest of all the suspects was a must to nail the main accused. He demanded action against policemen who ran away from the spot, leaving his injured father behind.

Abhishek said the special investigation team (SIT) constituted to probe the incident was yet to ascertain who killed his father during the violence.

“On December 3, lodging of FIR in Bulandshahr violence was delayed. The case was registered after 12 hours which helped the three key accused in absconding. They are still on the run,” he said.

A senior police officer assisting the SIT admitted that investigating officers were yet to identify the person who shot Singh.

“In the video footages available with us, a man is seen standing near the police inspector a few seconds before he was shot dead. However, the quality of the video is too poor to identify the person,” he said.

The officer said the SIT would seek custody of some of the arrested accused to interrogate them and identify the person in the video.

So far, six of the 27 accused named in the FIR have been sent to jail while 19 others have been held after being identified through video footages.

In the FIR, 27 named and 50-60 unidentified people have been accused of indulging in violence.

The named accused who have been arrested include army man Jeetendra Singh alias Jeetu, Vishal Tyagi, Harendra Singh, Tinku alias Bhupesh, Guddu, Chhotu alias Avinash.

While Jeetu was arrested on December 9, Vishal surrendered before a local court on December 17. The remaining accused surrendered in the court on Wednesday.

One of the accused Ajay Devla, who was identified through video footage, was also arrested by the police on Wednesday.