Bajrang Dal members’ names surface in Bulandshahr violence FIR
BULANDSHAHAR: Hindu outfit Bajrang Dal’s district head, a BJP youth wing member and a VHP worker were booked on Tuesday for the murder of police inspector Subodh Kumar Singh during Monday’s mob violence that was stoked by rumours of cow slaughter in west Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr.
Four persons, Chaman, Devendra, Ashish Chauhan and Satish, have been arrested so far, said a senior police officer. Five others have been detained and six teams formed to nab the absconding. The police also filed an FIR against seven locals, all Muslims, for alleged cow slaughter on the complaint from one Yogesh Raj, reportedly a Bajrang Dal member.
Bajrang Dal’s Yogesh Raj, who has been untraceable since 4pm on Monday, has also been made the number one accused for the riot and has been booked for murder and attempt to murder under sections 302 and 307 of the Indian Penal Code, respectively, as well as various sections of arson and damaging public property.
In the mob violence FIR, the police have named 27 persons, while 50-60 others are ‘unknown’. Some of them are allegedly members of the Bajrang Dal. Accused number one Raj’s social media profile, and information though local sources, link him to the Bajrang Dal. He is allegedly the district convenor of the outfit, which is the youth faction of the VHP.
Till now, four persons have been arrested for the violence, in which another youngster named Sumit was also killed during police’s retaliatory firing. He was named in the FIR along with 27 others and there are 60 unnamed individuals as well. Apart from Yogesh Raj, among those named in the FIR are BJP youth wing member Shikhar Agrawal and VHP member Upendra Raghav.
“We will arrest more people today and will gather more evidence. The SIT team that has been formed is looking closely into the matter,” said Prashant Kumar, ADG, Meerut Zone. Kumar said an SIT has also been formed to investigate why the police personnel left Subodh Kumar alone after he was shot.
While speaking to News18, police officers, on the condition of anonymity, had confirmed that most men in the mob belonged to right-wing groups such as the Bajrang Dal, Hindu Yuva Vahini and the Shiv Sena.In a statement to police on Tuesday morning, Yogesh Raj said he was the one who witnessed the cow slaughter incident in the fields on Monday morning.
Raj, a resident of Newbans village of Siyana, told the police that he was roaming in the jungles of Mahaw along with some companions at 9 am on Monday when he saw six men of a minority community slaughtering cattle. After this, he said he called them out, but they escaped from the spot, he alleged.
He accepted that he along with others of the right-wing outfit was among the protesters, but denied it was to stoke violence. “We were there at the spot because we were the ones who informed police about the incident. Our motive was not to stoke any violence,” he told News18.
Police inspector Subodh Kumar Singh had died along with a local after the mob ran riot over alleged cow slaughter on Monday afternoon. Singh was killed by a bullet in the head and had suffered wounds from hard and blunt objects, the post-mortem has revealed. The bullet pierced the 47-year-old’s head near the left eyebrow, the report said. “The entry of the bullet is near the left eyebrow. As per post-mortem report it appears to be a .32 bore,” the ADG (law and order) Anand Kumar said.
Protesters from Mahaw village and nearby areas had pelted stones on police and indulged in arson, setting ablaze several vehicles and Chingarwathi Police Chowki, after some body parts of cows were found in a jungle near the village, prompting the police to open fire. A video showing the body of a policeman slumped to ground from the seat of a police vehicle surrounded by some people came to light after the incident. But the police refused to confirm if it was Singh in the clip.
However, a senior police official requesting anonymity said, “In all likelihood, it appears to be Subodh Kumar.”The violence had started around 10 am in Siana area in the district where a major three-day Islamic congregation had concluded on Monday afternoon. The police, however, said the incident was not related in any way to the congregation.
“The incident occurred 40-50 km away from the congregation site. Some miscreants were behind the violence and action is being taken against them in accordance with law,” the Bulandshahr Police tweeted on Monday evening. Expressing grief over the incident, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said strict action would be taken against the guilty after the probe reports are received. He also said financial assistance would be extended to the affected persons.
The incident led to a political slugfest, with the Congress hitting out at the chief minister, saying he should first set his own house in order before “gallivanting” around the country for election campaign.
His family members have confirmed his connection to the Bajrang Dal as well as his presence at the spot on Monday, but denied that he had any role in the murder, according to sources in Bulandshahr. A video footage of him arguing with the police at the spot has also surfaced.
A former pradhan of Mahav village, where the carcasses were allegedly discovered, has also been booked in the FIR filed on a complaint from sub-inspector Subash Chandra at the Syana police station. So are Shikhar Agarwal, who is allegedly the BJP Yuva Morcha’s Bulandshahr city president, and VHP leader Upendra Raghav, though the police have not mentioned their identity.
ADGP law and order Anand Kumar, however, said, “there is no information of any organisation being involved,” but did not comment on the specific affiliations of those named in the FIR. “It is not proper to name any organisation…Whether Yogesh [Raj] is linked [to any organization] or not, I don’t think it is proper to state.”
It appeared prima facie that Sumit, the youth killed during the mob violence, was a part of the protesters. Further investigation would reveal his role, whether he was a bystander or directly involved and from where the bullet shot came, he said..
Video footage A video has surfaced showing Sumit being shot amid chaotic scenes in a field where youth are running amok with lathis and charging towards a policeman accusing him of firing the bullet. It was, however, not clear who shot him.The authenticity of the clip could not be independently verified.
Om Prakash Rajbhar, Minister in the Yogi Adityanath government and president of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, said the incident was a “conspiracy” by the BJP and its affiliates to instigate a communal riot to polarise voters.”And it is unfortunate that people of VHP, Bajrang Dal and BJP had gone there with the intention of rioting… Hindu-Muslim. And an Inspector became a victim of that,” he said.
The charges in the mob violence FIR include murder, sedition, attempt to murder, rioting and dacoity. Sections 307, 302, 147, 148, 149, 124-A, 332, 333, 353, 341, 336, 427, 436 and 395 of the Indian Penal Code have been invoked. Yogesh Raj and others have been accused of leading the mob and “instigating them” for violence despite assurances by the police that an FIR would be filed in the cow slaughter case, the mob violence FIR says. The mob attacked the police with illegal firearms, sharp objects and lathis with the “intent to kill,” it notes.
Inspector Subodh Kumar was shot and left injured when a mob “surrounded him” and snatched his service pistol and three mobile phones, including an official number. All this while the mob was continuously firing, said Mr. Chandra.
The mob then attacked the police outpost at Chingravati, burning police vehicles as well as official records and property. They also prevented and injured Kumar from receiving medical treatment. With cries of “maro maro [kill, kil],” the mob attacked the police when they were attempting to put the injured officer into a jeep to take him to hospital, said Mr. Chandra.
FIR concerning cow slaughter lacks detailsThe FIR concerning cow slaughter lacks details. It charges seven persons, identified as Sudef Chaudhary, Ilyas, Sharafat, Anas, Wajid, Pervez, and Sharfuddin, all of Nayabas village, under Sections 3, 5 and 8 of the Uttar Pradesh Cow Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act, 1995 and Section 295 of the IPC.
In his complaint to the police, Yogesh Raj says that at 9 am on Monday, he and his friends Shiv Kumar and Saurabh were in the Mahav jungle area when they spotted the accused persons slaughtering a cow. Upon seeing Yogesh and his friends, the accused fled from the spot, notes the FIR.
The remaining accused in the mob violence were identified as Vishal Tyagi, Satyendra Rajput, Chaman, Devendra, Upendra Raghav, Ravi Saini, Ashish Chauhan, Shikhar Agrawal, Jitu, Sachin,. Ramesh Tyagi, Vineet, Saurabh, Sumit, Chotu, Satish, Vikas Tyagi, Pawan, Vikrant Tyagi, Bablu, Ankur, Robin, Tinku, Guddu and Harendra. (With Agency Inputs (.
