People at Inspector Subodh Singh’s funeral.

Yogi busy in poll campaign, mum on cop killing; 2 minors held for cow slaughter

CM seeks action against cow slaughter; calls incident part of big conspiracy

Agency Report | Lucknow/Bulandshahr | 5 December, 2018 | 11:00 PM

A day after a police officer was killed in a mob frenzy over cow carcasses found near a village in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr, chief minister Yogi Adityanath held a late night security review but kept the focus firmly on cow slaughter. A government statement on the meeting last night indicates he ordered officers to speed up arrests for cow slaughter but was silent on the cop's murder.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath addressed four election rallies in Telangana on Wednesday but continued to keep mum on the killing of a police officer by cow vigilantes in his state’s Bulandshahr district.

Adityanath may meet the family of the slain Subodh Kumar Singh here on Thursday.

On Tuesday, the Chief Minister reviewed the law and order situation with Chief Secretary and other top officials in Lucknow but did not make any public comment on the killing of the officer.

Meanwhile, the slain Inspector’s son Shrey demanded a fair and proper probe into the killing from all angles.

Asked whether there was a meeting likely between their family and the Chief Minister, he said some officials have sounded him on that.

“He (Singh) gave his life in the line of duty. I have faith in police and the SIT which is investigating the incident. My priority is for a proper and fair probe. The SIT report should cover all angles. My father is a martyr.

“Strict action must be taken against the culprits. Mob lynching is a big social evil and it has to be dealt with strictly. I want justice for my father. This incident should be made an example of so that people do not indulge in such crimes,” he said.

On Tuesday, the Uttar Pradesh government said the Chief Minister had sought action against those involved in cow slaughter and called the “incident” part of a big conspiracy.

“So those involved in cow slaughter directly or indirectly should be arrested,” he said.

He announced a grant of Rs 10 lakh to the family of Sumeet who was also shot dead in the Bulandshahr violence.

The press statement made no mention of Subodh Singh, who was killed allegedly by a mob protesting against the killing of cows.
Meanwhile, two young Muslims named in the FIR for allegedly slaughtering cows were actually attending an Islamic congregation when the incident allegedly took place, villagers say.

Two villagers of Naya Bans, Yasin Khan and Mohd Hussain, said some 100 police personnel called out the names of Sarfuddin, 11, and Parvez, 12, and took them away.

Khan and Hussain said that they told the police that the two minors had been falsely booked and that they were not even in the village when the alleged slaughter of cows took place.

They were attending a congregation of Tabligi Jamaat, about 45 km away, and showed the police a video to back their claim.

But the police took them away. After detaining them for about four hours and getting photocopy of their Aadhaar card, they were allowed to go on the condition that they would come to the police station whenever called.

A policeman said on the condition of anonymity that the FIR in which the two minors have been named was registered following a statement by Yogesh Raj, the main accused in the Bulandshahr mob violence which left a police Inspector and a civilian dead.

Yogesh Raj claimed that seven men slaughtered cows in village Mahaw. Yogesh Raj is still at large but the police have arrested four other persons in the case.

A police officer said that two FIRs had been registered – one for cow slaughter and another for rioting.

Seven persons have been booked for cow slaughter including two minors. In the FIR for rioting, 27 persons have been named including leaders of Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad along with 60 unidentified persons. (IANS)