Cow vigilantism: Cop, villager killed in clash
BULANDSHAHR: A police inspector and a villager were killed after protests over alleged cow slaughter swirled out of control in UP’S Bulandshahr and a mob attacked security personnel who opened fire during the melee, officials said on Monday.
Protesters clashed with securitymen and set their vehicles and a police post on fire in the three-hour rampage after reports of the recovery of carcasses at Mahaw village on Sunday night, said Prashant Kumar, the additional director general of police (Meerut zone).
Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh died of injuries, probably caused by a blunt object, he said. However, later, district magistrate Anuj Kumar Jha said Singh died of gunshots.
Singh was part of the initial investigation into the murder of Mohammad Akhlaq, a resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Dadri village who was lynched by a mob in September 2015 over another incident of alleged cow slaugh- ter. A 21-year-old man, identified as Sumit, too, died after being hit by bullets, but police said only a post-mortem would reveal if the shots were fired by the forces.
Five officials, including a circle officer, were wounded in the clashes that began around 11am just 130km from New Delhi. Soon, they spread to nearby villages.
The state government, which faced attacks by Opposition parties, ordered three separate probes into the violence.