Hindustan Times (Chandigarh)

Inspector’s murder was accidental: Adityanath

- HT Correspond­ent

LUCKNOW: The killing of a police inspector during violent clashes in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshah­r earlier this week was an accident and not a case of mob lynching, state chief minister Yogi Adityanath said on Friday as state police focused their search on a soldier who allegedly fired the shot that killed the senior officer.

Adityanath’s comment came in Delhi at an event hosted by a Hindi newspaper, a day after he ordered strict action against cow slaughter and unlawful trade in cattle, saying district magistrate­s and other senior police officials would be held personally responsibl­e for any lapse.

Two senior police officers – Meerut inspector general Ram Kumar and director general of police OP Singh – have said they see a “conspiracy” behind the incident, with the former saying that solving the case of alleged cow slaughter, which triggered the clashes, was more important.

Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and a 21-year-old man, Sumit Kumar, were killed on Monday as a rampaging mob torched vehicles and clashed with security forces for three hours over allegation­s of cow slaughter.

The killings have been widely condemned by opposition parties with many pointing out that a letter, purportedl­y signed by local functionar­ies of the BJP in September, had blamed Singh for hurting Hindu sentiments and not acting quickly in cases of cow slaughter. The letter also sought his transfer and a probe against the official. After scanning multiple videos of the clashes, police said they are searching for an army man, a local resident, who was identified in one of the clips and was purportedl­y seen firing.

Additional director general (Meerut zone) Prashant Kumar said the man, identified only as Jeetendra alias Fauji, was mentioned as one of the 27 accused named in the FIR on charges of murder and rioting. “His role is being investigat­ed,” he said.

A senior officer privy to the investigat­ion said the man had gone missing after the incident. His family reportedly claimed he was on leave and had returned to the place of his posting in Jammu.

LOCAL FUNCTIONAR­IES OF THE BJP SOUGHT THE INSPECTOR’S TRANSFER IN SEPTEMBER, ALLEGING THAT HE DID NOT ACT QUICKLY ON COW SLAUGHTER CASES

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