Main accused in instigating December last Bulandshahr mob violence arrested

More than 70 persons, some of them allegedly having links with VHP and Bajrang Dal, were booked for the mob violence that followed allegations of cow slaughter in a village.

Bajrang Dal activist Yogesh Raj, who was arrested by the Police on Wednesday night, is the main accused in instigating mob violence in Bulandshahr mob violence case.

Bajrang Dal activist Yogesh Raj, the main accused in instigating the mob violence in Bulandshahr in December last, has been arrested.

ADGP, Law and Order, Anand Kumar said details would be released soon.

The Bulandshahr police said Raj was arrested on Wednesday around 23:30 p.m. at a T-point near the Brahmanand College on the Khurja-Bulandshahr bypass. Raj, who is the Bulandshahr district convenor of the Bajrang Dal, the youth wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), was being questioned.

A court had issued nonbailable warrants against Raj and several other accused in the case. A notice to attach their property if they did not surrender soon had been pasted on the walls of the houses of the accused.

More than 70 booked

More than 70 persons, some of them allegedly having links with VHP and Bajrang Dal, were booked for the mob violence that followed allegations of cow slaughter in a village. Raj was among the 27 named; he was allegedly the main instigator.

Police officer Subodh Kumar Singh was shot dead when a mob went on a rampage in Bulandshahr’s Syana area on December 3 after right-wing groups alleged that some cows had been slaughtered, and brought carcasses to the police outpost in a tractor trolley.

The charges in the mob violence FIR include murder, sedition, attempt to murder, damage to public property, 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.

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 FIR said.

The mob attacked the police with illegal firearms, sharp objects and lathis with the "intent to kill."

Raj was also the person on whose complaint the initial FIR on alleged cow slaughter was registered. However, all the persons named by him were proven to be falsely implicated and a given a clean chit by the special investigation team probing the case.