GAU RAKSHAKS RUN AMOK ONCE AGAIN

POLICE INSPECTOR, 20- YEAR- OLD KILLED IN VIOLENCE

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath on Friday described the killing of inspector Subodh Kumar, earlier this week in Bulandshahr as “an accident”. He said that no incident of mob- lynching had taken place in the state.

Inspector Singh, before he was shot dead, reportedly tried to control the mob violence in the village after carcasses of

25 cows were found in forest close to the police post. A 20- year- old youth was also killed in an hour of violence provoked by allegations of cow slaughter. Yogesh Raj, the main suspect behind the violence remains to be arrested.

The UP police hinted at a “conspiracy” behind the violence since it occurred three days ahead of the anniversary of the demolition of the Babri masjid and when Muslims had gathered in large numbers for a religious function,

presenting the perfect conditions to stoke trouble, the police chief said. A four- member special investigation team headed by Inspector General, Meerut, is leading the probe.

Two days before inspector Singh was killed during the mob violence, local BJP leaders had demanded his transfer after accusing him of creating obstacles for religious

functions. In a letter sent to Bulandshahr MP Bhola Singh, they alleged that his behaviour caused resentment in the Hindu community. Singh, 47, was the investigating officer in the 28 September 2015 lynching of Mohammed Akhlaq in Dadri, western UP. He was transferred to Varanasi in November 2015.

The Congress attacked the BJP over the violence, claiming the BJP’s “true dream or version of new India” is to transform “Hindustan into lynchistan”.

Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill alleged that whenever an incident of lynching and mob violence happens in the country, the BJP acts like the “spokesperson and the defender” of the accused.