On Monday, December 3, some self-appointed cow vigilantes created a situation in front of the Chingrawathi Police Post on Bulandshahr-Garh State Highway in which Subodh Kumar Singh, SHO Siyana, and a youth by-passer Sumit Kumar were killed. A police vehicle and the Police Post were torched, gunner of SHO was seriously injured in stone-pelting. This happened on the last day of 3-day ‘Tablighi congregation’ attended by several lakhs of people a few kilometres away from the spot in Bulandshahr. Large numbers of people were supposed to return by the highway which the cow-vigilantes had blocked. Had the violence escalated, a heavy loss of life was imminent on the eve of Babri Masjid destruction’s 26th Anniversary.
CONSPIRACY
As The Quint reported, “Initial investigation by UP police as well as eyewitness accounts from the spot hints at an organised attempt at fuelling communal tension in the area.” It is almost clear that cow slaughter was a masquerade. A conspiracy hatched by local cow vigilantes to instigate communal passions and gain popularity cannot be ruled out.
Mr. Om Prakash Singh, D.G. Police UP, on December 4, said that the force sees “conspiracy” behind the clashes in Bulandshahr between nearly-400 strong mob and the police.
He said, “We are probing why the particular day – December 3 – and place [where] the cow’s remains spread in the field, were selected,” Singh told the PTI. He said: “We are looking at all angles, including the timing of the incident.”
Mr. OP Rajbhar, a Minister in UP Cabinet, has also said, “This is a pre-planned conspiracy by VHP, Bajrang Dal and RSS. Now police is even naming some BJP members. Why did protest happen on the last day of Muslim Ijtema event? It was an attempt to disturb the peace.”
A Hemant Karkare killing like conspiracy is also being seen in eliminating Inspector SK Singh and being linked with his role in Dadri lynching case, which was initially probed by him. In Dadri, in 2015, one Mohammed Akhlaq was dragged from his house at night and beaten to death. The Inspector’s sister Manisha alleged that Singh was getting threats for some time. She said he was killed because he had investigated the brutal lynching in Dadri. His death was the result of a “conspiracy”. Mr. Singh had made a case against several right-wing extremists and arrested them. His wife and son have also alleged conspiracy to eliminate him for his role in the Dadri probe.
Family members of Saifuddin who were made accused of cow slaughter and arrested, also said this it is part of a “conspiracy against Muslims”. Speaking to India Today TV, they said, “One day before the clash took place, the Bajrang Dal leader Yogeshraj [the prime accused] mobilised people and provoked them against Muslims living in the village.”
THE C.M. FLIP FLOP
The State C.M. Yogi Adityanath has also acknowledged the conspiracy angle and had said the incident was the result of a “big conspiracy”. But after reaching Delhi, he was a changed person. Three days after his “conspiracy” comment, on Friday, he found out the incident was actually an accident.
“Uttar Pradesh mein mob lynching ki koi ghatna nahi hui hai. Bulandshahr ki ghatna ek durghatna hai, aur isme qanoon apna kam kar raha hai. Koi bhi doshi bakhsha nahi jayega. Illegal slaughtering, keval cow hatya hi nahi, illegal slaughtering poore UP mein ban hai and DM, SP uske prati poore jawabdeyi honge,” Adityanath said, while speaking at a right-wing forum, the Jagran Forum, in Delhi.
(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).”
YOGI VISION
We need to understand Yogi’s vision. Wear saffronite glasses, what looks like twin “conspiracy” – to eliminate an “unwanted Police officer” and for spreading communal divide – shall look like a good move under “planning for 2019”. And so priority of the probe has been shifted from killing a Police officer to alleged cow slaughtering.
PROBE PRIORITY
Addl. SP (Bulandshahr) Rayees Akhtar said: “Our main concern is to find out who killed the cows which led to the protest and resulted in Inspector Singh’s murder. The cow-killers are our top priority. The murder and rioting case is on the backburner for now.”
He also said: “While we cannot name specific groups, it is clear that most of the accused (in Singh’s killing) were active in cow-protection activities. There appears to be a pattern but we can only confirm once the arrests are made. At this point of time, the cow carcasses are the main issue.” (Mr. Akhtar since have been transferred a day after making this statement)
FIR
In the cow killing case four persons named in Yogeshraj’s FIR have been arrested. Yogeshraj, the Bajrang Dal district convenor, whose home is three kms away from the spot, claimed in the FIR that he and two his associates were roaming in the fields when they saw seven people allegedly slaughtering cows around 9 am. “When we saw the cows being slaughtered, we raised an alarm. When they saw us, they ran away. Our Hindu sentiments have been hurt.” But there is no explanation why the tools used for slaughtering were not recovered.
The neighbour of the man on whose field the “carcasses” were found said farm workers had first flagged them and Yogeshraj.
Siyana tehsildar Raj Kumar Bhaskar, who was the first Govt. official to visit the spot, said: “I went to the area where they claimed cow carcasses were found. It looked like one carcass which was several days old, displayed for all to see.”
In the FIR, Yogeshraj named seven persons, including a minor and the manager of a local Mosque. “On Tuesday, the police reached Nayabas village and found that one of the seven named is a 10-year-old. We have come to know that some people named in the FIR are employed in Delhi,” Kiran Pal Singh, the new SHO of Siyana, said. Four persons named in the FIR in the cow-slaughter case – Sarfuddin, Sajid, Asif, and Naem have been arrested.
ACCUSED NO-1
Yogeshraj is accused number 1 in the Police FIR in the killing of Inspector Singh. But after political inference, the police shifted focus from arresting him. His family claimed on Tuesday, at the time of mob violence Yogesh was attending a Law exam in his college and had only gone to the spot in the afternoon. But college officials said no exam was scheduled on that day.
So far, the police have arrested five persons – Chaman, Devendra, Ashish Chauhan, Satish and an army man Jitendra Malik – for their alleged involvement in Singh’s murder. But they are yet to nab the main accused, Yogeshraj Singh, who is on the run but had posted two clips on social media.
THE INCIDENT
Describing the incident, District officials said people showed up in tractors with what they alleged were cow carcasses, and demanded immediate action in the matter. Siyana SHO Mr. Singh reached the spot between 10 and 11 am, accompanied with only three support staff, including a driver.”
Trouble had started to brew Monday morning when some people informed Siyana PS about alleged cow carcasses being found in the fields. Demanding prompt action, around 50-60 villagers loaded the carcasses in tractor-trolleys and parked them outside Chingravati police booth, blocking the highway leading to Bulandshahr.
When SHO Singh was requesting agitated villagers to clear the traffic and promising to file an FIR and prompt action, “It was essentially a request for clearing the highway; the police officer was maintaining protocol by responding to a crime call. Our belief is that some hot-blooded elements came only for the purpose of creating a law and order situation,” said District Magistrate (Bulandshahr) Anuj Jha.
“Reasoning soon gave way to arguments, and as the back and forth got out of control, some in the crowd resorted to stone pelting. The SHO and his aides were cornered by a violent mob. An initial round of firing in the air to disperse them only angered them further,” the officers said.
“In the clash, the Syana station in-charge was fatally injured while his gunner was critically injured. I would say that the police officer was brave that he ventured into the crowd alone to pacify them. He was just doing his job. He was known to be a person who never held back from any tough situation. We have lost an asset,” he said.
The post-mortem report confirmed cause Inspector Singh and Sumit’s death by gun-shots of .32 bore revolver. The driver of SHO car, Ram Ashray said: “Sahab was lying on the ground. I drove the car to a field and put him in it. As soon as we began moving, a mob landed and started shouting, ‘maaro, maaro’. We could hear gunshots.” In a viral video the Inspector’s body can be seen half hanging from his Tata Sumo.
This description strongly indicated that it was a targeted killing and not a sudden accident. In the meanwhile, a local resident Jitendra Malik alias Jeetu Fauji, who is suspected to firing the shots from his service revolver killing SHO Singh, and young boy Sumit, has been arrested by the army and handed over to UP police. “Preliminary interrogation has been done,” SSP, Special Task Force, Abhishek Singh said that he was brought to Meerut by his unit and handed over to the STF. “He accepted he was there when the crowd started gathering but denied any role in the violence.”
“You can clearly see him (Jitendra Malik) fomenting trouble and instigating the crowd. We have an inkling that this army man had a role in stone-throwing. Video and testimony are available to place Jitendra Malik at the spot. Why is an army man instigating the crowd, why should he be raising these slogans? In a set of photographs found by the police, Malik can be seen at the epicentre of the protests. He is right next to Yogesh Raj,” Anand Kumar, the senior officer in UP police, in-charge of law and order, told NDTV on Sunday.
Mr Kumar also said that Yogesh Raj, the Bajrang Dal activist, and another key accused will be “tracked down soon.”
Jitendra Malik was in his village on 15-day leave. Sources say, he fled to Sopore, where he was posted the same evening inspector Singh was killed.
The Police may make more arrests, but it looks imminent that political interference in the investigation may give clear chit to accused persons, and the prosecution may not reach the natural culmination. In the meanwhile, several officers have been transferred. From a letter written by local BJP leaders to local M.P., it is clear that local BJP leaders were out to get Inspector Singh removed from his position.
The violence is clearly a making of the atmosphere created by Yogi and others crying all time “cow, cow, cow” as slain Inspector’s sister said. The second most crucial reason is soft-peddling by the state in the cases of lynching by cow-vigilantes in BJP states. They see killing in the name of cow is not a crime but something of pride.
[The contributor is a Civil Rights activist, based in Delhi. [email protected]]