In a setback to the prosecution, the Allahabad High Court on Wednesday granted bail to Yogesh Raj, the main accused in the Bulandshahr violence of December 3, 2018, in which a police inspector was allegedly killed by a mob.
The Uttar Pradesh police had accused Mr. Raj, convenor of the local Bajrang Dal unit, as one of the main conspirators for instigating violence and his presence was established at the site of violence through technical and forensic evidence.
Mr. Rai’s advocate Anandpati Tripathi argued that his client had already been granted bail in several sections of the IPC on August 26. It was only Section 124 A (sedition), which was added later, that was preventing his bail. Judge Siddharth accepted his plea.
On December 3, an incident of alleged cow slaughter led to a heated argument between villagers and the police in front of the Chirangwathi police station. Later, it spiralled into violence, in which Siyana SHO Subodh Kumar Singh and an alleged agitator Sumit Singh were killed.
Forty-four accused were booked under the sedition charge. Of these, seven were granted bail on August 13. Videos of them getting a rousing welcome after their release had gone viral.
