Cop, youth killed in violence after ‘cow slaughter’ in Bulandshahr
GOVT ORDERS 3 PROBES Additional forces rushed; slain SHO was investigating officer in 2015 Dadri lynching
MEERUT/LUCKNOW: A police inspector, who had been the investigating officer in the Akhlaq lynching case of Dadri in 2015, and a 21-year-old villager died from gunshot wounds as a mob went on the rampage while protesting against illegal cow slaughter in Bulandshahr district of western Uttar Pradesh on Monday, police and district administration officials said. Police said villagers opened fire during the violence, using country made guns.
Five police personnel, including a circle officer, were also injured.
Additional director general of police, Meerut zone, Prashant Kumar said the protesters pelted the police with stones and indulged in arson, setting several vehicles and the Chingarwathi police outpost on fire.
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. ADG (Intelligence) SB Shiradkar has been asked to submit his report to the state government in 48 hours, Anand Kumar said.
The separate probes were announced after chief minister Yogi Adityanath expressed displeasure over the incident.
Adityanath said action will be taken against the guilty after the probe reports were received.
The government rushed five companies of the Rapid Action Force (RAF) and six companies of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) to Bulandshahr to prevent any escalation of violence in which the role of some right-wing organizations was suspected.
The precaution is also being taken even as about five to seven lakh participants in the Tabligi Ijtema, an Islamic congregation, were in the district, people familiar with the matter said. The meet, attended by 15 lakh people, ended on Sunday.
The trouble began after villagers recovered cow carcasses in Mahaw, Anand Kumar said.
“Protesters from Mahaw, Chingarwathi and Nai Bash villages dumped the carcasses on a tractor-trolley and blocked the Bulandshahr-Garh highway under the Syana police station,” he said.
“Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh police station reached the spot, along with other police personnel, and pacified villagers. Initially, the issue was resolved and villagers were assured of a thorough probe,” he added.
But the violence flared up when police tried to clear the road blockade and remove the protesters, he said.
“There was heavy brick-batting by villagers. When cops resorted to a cane charge, villagers opened fire with country made guns. In order to control the situation, police opened fire in the air to disperse the mob,” the ADG said.
“In the ensuing violence, SHO Subodh Kumar Singh was injured and rushed to a hospital in Bulandshahr where he died,” Anand Kumar said.
Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, station house officer of Syana police station, died due to a bullet injury below his left eyebrow, said ADG Anand Kumar.
About the death of local youth Sumit, 21, Anand Kumar said, “Initial reports from the Meerut hospital, where the boy was rushed, indicate entry and exit of wounds of a bullet.”
But only the post-mortem examination will make it clear whether the wound was from the bullet fired by the cops or firing of locals, he added.
Bulandshahr district magistrate Anuj Kumar Jha also confirmed the death of the inspector.
An FIR was lodged against seven people, whose names have not been disclosed, officials added.
The slain SHO’s mobile phone and service revolver were yet to be found.Director general of police OP Singh said he asked SSP, STF, Abhishek Singh to camp in Bulandshahr and scan video footage to identify the attackers.
Subodh Kumar Singh was the investigating officer in the Akhlaq lynching case, Dadri, from September 28, 2015 till November 9, 2015, said Anand Kumar replying to a query raised by some media persons. However, a different IO had filed the charge sheet in the Akhlaq case in March 2016.