Four arrested for UP mob violence
POLICE OFFICER DIES AFTER CROWDS RUN RIOT ACROSS STATE OVER ALLEGED COW SLAUGHTER IN BULANDSHAHR
Hindu fundamentalist outfit Bajrang Dal’s local leader, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) youth wing member and a nationalist body Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activist were among four booked yesterday for the murder of a police inspector during Monday’s mob violence incited by rumours of cow slaughter in Uttar Pradesh.
Bajrang Dal’s Yogesh Raj has also been made the number one accused for the riot in Bulandshahr and booked for murder of inspector Subodh Kumar Singh. Among those named in the police complaint are BJP youth wing member Shikhar Agrawal and VHP member Upendra Raghav.
Till now, three people have been arrested for the violence, in which a youngster named Sumit was also killed during police’s retaliatory firing. 60 unnamed people were also mentioned in the complaint.
“We will arrest more people in next few days and will gather more evidence. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) that has been formed is looking closely into the matter,” Prashant Kumar, Additional Director General of Police, Meerut Zone, told Gulf News.
Kumar said a team has been formed to investigate why the police personnel left inspector Singh alone after he was shot.
Singh died after the mob ran riot over alleged cow slaughter on Monday. According to the post mortem report, he was killed by a bullet in the head and suffered wounds from blunt objects. Cow slaughter is banned in parts of India, including Uttar Pradesh.
Meanwhile, accused Raj told police that he was the one who witnessed the cow slaughter incident in the fields on Monday.
“Yogesh Raj told us that he was roaming in the jungles of Mahaw along with some companions at 9am on Monday when he saw six men of a minority community slaughtering cattle,” the police said in a media statement.
Strict action promised
Expressing grief over the incident, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said strict action would be taken against the guilty. He also extended financial assistance to the affected persons.
But Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati held BJP responsible for the mob violence. “Bharatiya Janata Party is responsible for providing sanction to all kinds of violence and chaos. The mob violence is due to BJP’s flawed policies,” she told Gulf News.
Communist Party of IndiaMarxist went a step further and claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi benefited from incidents of mob violence in the country.
“Lynch mobs and vigilante groups are now killing policemen in uniform at the behest of BJP and Hindu fundamentalist body Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). As Uttar Pradesh and the country descend into complete lawlessness, Yogi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi look to reap electoral benefits over the deaths of Muslims, Dalits and now policemen,” CPM tweeted on its official Twitter handle.