Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh was SHO of Jarcha police station when the Akhlaq lynching case took place in Dadri in 2015. He probed the case for over a month.
Lucknow: Subodh Kumar Singh, the inspector who was killed in the Bulandshahr violence Monday afternoon, was the first investigating officer in the 2015 Mohammad Akhlaq lynching case in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh. As the head of Jarcha police station in Gautam Buddh Nagar district, Singh had investigated the Dadri lynching case for over a month.
Singh succumbed Monday to a head injury he sustained in Chingrawati area of Bulandshahr, where violence broke out over alleged cow slaughter.
Another man was killed while at least five persons were injured in the violence.
“He was the IO (Investigating Officer) of the Dadri lynching case from 28 September to November 2015. He was the first IO of the case but he was not part of the final investigation in the case when the chargesheet was filed in court,” said Anand Kumar, ADG (Law and Order), UP.
Following his service in Gautam Buddh Nagar, Singh had been transferred to Varanasi, police sources said.
Hailing from Etah district of Uttar Pradesh, 50-year-old Singh had been in police service more than 30 years, police said. “He had been posted in Bulandshahr in September this year,” Kumar added.
“He was the SHO of Syana police station and he was a part of the team of police officers who were trying to control the protesters.”
The Dadri lynching case took place on the night of 28 September 2015 in Bisara village when a mob dragged 50-year-old Mohammad Akhlaq from his house and allegedly beat him to death. The mob had gathered in the village after suspicions about cow slaughter and beef consumption had been voiced in a temple announcement that evening. The incident had taken place around 11 kilometres away from the Jarcha police station, where Singh was posted as the Station House Officer (SHO).
Also read: UP cop among 2 killed as protest against ‘cow slaughter’ turns violent in Bulandshahr
Monday’s violence
Violence ensued Monday morning after cattle remains were found in the fields of Chingrawati village. 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 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.
“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.”
Between 12 pm and 1.30 pm, SHO Singh sustained a head injury amid the clashes.
“After the inspector was injured, the police put him in a car and tried to take him to the hospital, but the mob of around 400 people attacked the vehicle. He was shifted to another vehicle and rushed to the district hospital, where he succumbed to injuries. The post mortem report will ascertain the exact cause of death but prima facie, it seems that he was hit by a blunt object,” Kumar said.
At least three government vehicles and four impounded vehicles were allegedly set ablaze by the mob in the afternoon.
Also read: Policeman among 2 killed after remains of cattle spark mob violence in UP’s Bulandshahr
The other death
Apart from SHO Singh, a 22-year-old student from the village, Sumit Singh, was also killed in Monday’s violence, while at least five others were injured.
Police claimed that some people from the mob fired a few shots from country-made weapons as well, and in the cross-fire, Sumit sustained bullet injuries.
“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.
Kumar said an SIT has been formed to look into the alleged cow slaughter and the violence leading to the two deaths. 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.
Tragic. Rest in peace. 2. Heart sank even further after watching today’s Cut the Clutter. If Yogi Adityanath is India’s standard bearer, what will G 19 make of India, what will foreign / even domestic investors think of our country as a good place to stake their money, what future will the most educated, talented of our children find in this country …