Lucknow, Dec 8 (NIE): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Friday said the murder of Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh by a mob in Bulandshahr was an “accident” and not a “mob lynching”.
Speaking at the Jagran Forum in Delhi, he said: “Uttar Pradesh mein mob lynching ki koi ghatna nahi hai, ek. Bulandshahr ki ghatna ek durghatna hai, aur isme kanoon apna karya kar raha hai. Koi bhi doshi baksha nahi jayega. Illegal slaughtering, keval cow hatya hi nahi, illegal slaughtering poore UP mein ban hai and DM, SP uske prati poore jawabdeyi honge.”
(There is no mob lynching in UP. The Bulandshahr incident was an accident, and the law is taking its course. No culprit will be spared. Illegal slaughtering, and not just cow slaughter, is banned in the entire state and the DM and SP will be answerable).”
Meanwhile, five more persons were arrested in connection with the death of the Inspector and another local resident Sumit at the hands of the mob, which, on Monday, was protesting alleged cow slaughter in Siyana village. This takes the number of arrests to nine.
At a press briefing, Additional DGP (Law and Order) Anand Kumar said that five suspects — Chandra, Rohit, Sonu, Jitendra and Nitin — are residents of Siyana. Their profiles are under investigation, police said.
The UP Police has also contacted the Army to trace a soldier named in the FIR for the murder of Inspector Singh. The police suspect that the soldier, Jitender Malik, had come to Bulandshahr and allegedly participated in the violence. He subsequently fled, police said.
The role of Malik alias Jeetu Fauji in the killing of Inspector Singh surfaced after a purported video of the mob violence circulating on social media allegedly shows him opening fire. Malik’s mother, Ratan Kaur, told the police that he was not involved in the violence.
ADG Kumar said: “We can confirm that the person shown in the video is Jeetu, who is a part of the Indian Army and is currently posted in J&K. His role in the shooting is a matter of investigation by the SIT. We have sent teams to J&K to investigate further.”
The police are yet to ascertain Malik’s rank in the Army. On Tuesday, Ratan Kaur had told The Indian Express that her son was posted in J&K and that on Monday, he only went to see the gathering in Siyana.
In a statement, the Army said, “The police have contacted Northern Command and fullest cooperation is being extended. Details will be released by police at the appropriate time after positive identification. Since the matter is under investigation, no other comment can be offered.”
Meanwhile, ADG (Intelligence) S B Shiradkar, who was asked to conduct an inquiry into the violence, Friday submitted his report to Chief Minister Adityanath.