Uttar Pradesh top cop says SIT formed to probe alleged cow slaughter as well as violence that led to the two deaths.
Lucknow: Two persons, including a police inspector and a 22-year-old man, were killed while at least five others were injured when a protest over cow slaughter allegations turned violent in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr Monday afternoon, police said.
Anand Kumar, ADG (law and order) said an SIT to look into the alleged cow slaughter and the violence leading to the two deaths has been formed.
“Today morning, the head of Chingrawati village informed the Syana police station that remains of a cattle had been found in the village fields. A complaint was received from him and an FIR was being lodged when some anti-social elements tried to create tension,” said Kumar.
The police claimed the mob pelted stones at policemen and set a few vehicles on fire. The police had to lathicharge and fire in the air to bring the situation under the control, said Kumar.
Around 11 am, while the FIR was being lodged, some locals allegedly picked up the cattle remains from the village, took them on a tractor-trolley to the Chingrawati main road and staged demonstrations.
“The SDM, the area DSP along with the SHO and other police personnel reached the spot to bring the situation under control,” Kumar said.
“There were around 400 people from three villages who had gathered at the spot. When the crowd could not be controlled, the police resorted to lathicharge to disperse them,” he added.
Between 12 pm and 1.30 pm, however, a clash ensued between police and the mob.
“SHO Syana police station Subodh Kumar Singh sustained a head injury. He was rushed to a vehicle which would have taken him to the hospital but the crowd attacked the vehicle and did not let it go,” the ADGP added.
“He was shifted to another vehicle and rushed to the district hospital where he succumbed to injuries. A postmortem examination will ascertain the exact cause of his death,” Kumar said.
Prima facie, it seems that he was hit on the head with a blunt object and this is likely to have happened during stone pelting from the mob, Kumar said.
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Vehicles set ablaze
At least three government vehicles and four impounded vehicles were allegedly set ablaze by the mob in the afternoon.
Police claimed that some people from the mob fired a few shots from country-made weapons as well.
A 22-year-old undergraduate student, Sumit Singh, who was a resident of Chingrawati village, sustained bullet injuries in the clash.
“He was rushed to the district hospital and was referred to Meerut, where he died. In this case too, the postmortem report will show which bullet had hit him — whether it was fired from a police weapon or a country-made pistol,” Kumar said.
“There had been heavy rounds of firing from the mob which used country-made pistols,” ADG Kumar said.
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Two cases registered
The police also said that two cases — one relating to the alleged cow slaughter and another relating to the violence leading to the two deaths — have been registered in Bulandshahr.
“ADG Intelligence is in Bulandshahr and he will submit a report within the next 48 hours. Meanwhile, an SIT to look into both the cases has been formed,” Kumar said.
“The SIT will be headed by IG Meerut range and will have 2-4 other members. The DM has also initiated a magisterial inquiry into the matter,” Kumar said.
A thick security blanket has been thrown around Bulanshahr district where a five-day-long Urs of Khwaja Mohammad Nabi Raza Shah Dada Miya began on 30 November.
“Around 6-7 lakh out of the 15 lakh who had assembled there for the festival have been sent back. The circle officer (DSP, Syana) along with 4-5 policemen and civilians has received minor injuries,” Kumar said.
“Five companies of Rapid Action Force (RAF), 6 companies of the PAC and local police have been deployed in the district,” Kumar said.