LUCKNOW/BULANDSHAHR/NEW DELHI: Four people have been arrested in connection with the killing of Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and a young man in violence in Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh after cow vigilantes went on a rampage, police said on Tuesday.
The police, however, maintained it would be too early to conclude about the involvement of any organisation in the violence although local officials linked the mayhem to rightwing Hindu groups.
The police said the main conspirator behind Monday’s mob violence was Yogesh Raj, who is on the run and is said to be a Bajrang Dal activist.
Also on Tuesday, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued a notice to the Uttar Pradesh government seeking a detailed report on action taken over the killing of Subodh Kumar Singh and a young man in Bulandshahr violence.
Taking suo motu cognizance of media reports, the NHRC issued notices to the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police of Uttar Pradesh. It asked them to submit a detailed report within four weeks on the action taken against the miscreants, and relief and rehabilitation provided to the families of the deceased persons.
The Commission has observed that the reported incident is indicative of yet another incident of violent protest and rampaging by the unruly mob exposing lawlessness and failure of the administration to tackle the sensitive issues and situations,” an official statement said.
“The contents of the media reports suggest that even the police officers do not appear to be safe and can be easily eliminated at free will of the uncontrolled lawless elements. Right to Life of the deceased persons in the instant incident have been grossly violated, which is a matter of concern for the Commission,” it added.
Additional Director General (Law and Order) Anand Kumar said those arrested were Chaman, Devendra, Ashish Chouhan and Satish, who have been named in the FIR, while the prime suspect was Yogesh Raj.
“Those arrested have been found to be leading the crowd after being identified in a video. About 40-50 others who are unidentified were involved in the incident and police is confident of identifying them with the video evidence,” he said.
The official parried questions about the political links of the three key accused who are also said to include an activist each from the BJP and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
“Yes, Yogesh Raj is the main conspirator,” he said, adding that he was yet to be arrested.
He said six teams have been formed to probe the incident and an SIT has been constituted to investigate the matter.
On allegations that policemen fled the spot leaving the slain Inspector alone, Kumar said the circumstances in which police personnel left the place would be analysed and till then no action would be taken against anyone.
He said the Inspector was first injured by a stone.
“He fell unconscious and was taken in a vehicle which was attacked by a mob with stones and gunfire,” he added. Videos which went viral showed the Inspector dead with a bullet wound near the vehicle and several activists running around in circles.
A .32 bore bullet was found lodged in the head of Subodh Kumar Singh.
Earlier reports said the Inspector was killed when he tried to reason with the Hindutva activists blocking a busy road with carcasses of animals they claimed were of cows.
Subodh Kumar Singh was on Tuesday cremated in his ancestral village Jaithra in Etah district, police said.
Amid a sea of emotions, senior police officials played the pallbearers, before the body of Singh wrapped in a tri-colour was put on the funeral pyre.
— IANS
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