Cow slaughter now focus of probe, says Opposition

LUCKNOW : The statements of UP police officials associated with the Bulandshahr probe suggested that they were now focusing more on investigating cow slaughter than identifying those involved in instigating the mob violence that claimed the life of a police inspector and a 21-yearold youth, opposition parties have said. Although the police have arrested nine people in connection with the violence, all the key accused are still on the run.

The police also arrested eight people in connection with alleged cow slaughter and recovery of carcass in the same district.

The Opposition said the apparent shift in focus came about even as the state top authorities assured the family of police inspector Subodh Kumar Singh that those guilty of killing him would not be spared.

Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Pramod Tewari said the primary focus of the probe should be on the violence that led to the two killings, rather than on cow slaughter.

He said cow slaughter should also be probed, but it was a continuous process and “the matter could be kept secondary at this point of time”.

Samajwadi Party spokesperson Abdul Hafiz Gandhi said the state government’s priority seemed to be furthering the ruling party’s polarising agenda to reap political dividends in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

He said it was quite unfortunate that police were not able to give justice to the family of the police inspector, who sacrificed his life to uphold the rule of law. He said the state had plunged into ‘maha jungle raj’ (anarchy, where right-wing hooligans reign supreme.

UP BJP spokesman Harish Chandra Srivastava said the incident was a conspiracy aimed at discrediting the state government and it (the conspiracy) needed to be unravelled. He said all the aspects of the case were being probed.

He said the formation of SIT, rushing ADG intelligence, and the chief minister himself overseeing the entire issue were proof of the state government’s commitment to ensuring the rule of law.

Meerut inspector general (IG) of police Ram Kumar has already said finding out “who was behind cow slaughter... the cow conspiracy” was a “bigger question”. Ram Kumar, who heads a sevenmember special investigation team (SIT) formed to probe the Bulandshahr violence, made the remark on Thursday, talking to journalists about the issue.

Inspector general (IG) of police, crime, SK Bhagat shared data of police action on cow slaughter prevention while briefing media in Lucknow on Thursday. He reeled out the statistics when questioned about updates in Bulandshahr violence probe. Director general of police (DGP) OP Singh, has also hinted at a “larger conspiracy” behind Monday’s violence in Bulandshahr. He said on Tuesday, “These are major questions that how did the cattle carcass reach there?”