3 December Bulandshahr violence: UP police arrests Bajrang Dal leader Yogesh Raj in Khurja for rioting, instigating mob

A month after a police inspector and a civilian were killed in mob violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr, the state police has arrested local Bajrang Dal leader Yogesh Raj, one of the main accused in the case. The police nabbed Raj from Khurja, around 16 kilometres from Bulandshahr, late on Wednesday on charges of instigating a mob, rioting, vandalism and disturbing public order, Times Now reported. Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and civilian Sumit Kumar were killed on 3 December in the mob violence that broke out in Bulandshahr's Siyana area after cattle carcasses were found strewn outside a village. According to the police, Raj was arrested from a tea point near Brahmanand college after the Station House Officer of BB Nagar a tip on Wednesday night that he was going to travel from Khurja to Bulandshahr. He was arrested at 11.20 pm. He will be produced in court later on Thursday. [caption id=“attachment_5826751” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Bulandshahr violence accused Yogesh Raj arrested by Uttar Pradesh Police. Image Courtesy: Mohammad Nadeem/101Reporters[/caption] Though the police said they arrested Raj, Bajarang Dal leaders claimed that Raj had surrendered to the police. One of the first key accused to have been identified in the Bulandshahr case, Raj had earlier released a video from hiding , claiming that he was not present at the site of violence and had nothing to do with the protests. He also alleged that the Uttar Pradesh Police were trying to portray him in bad light. Bajrang Dal’s western Uttar Pradesh region co-convenor Praveen Bhati had also claimed that Raj had nothing to do with the violence. “He will cooperate with the police and come out at the right time,” Bhati had said. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s Siyana youth wing president Shikhar Agarwal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s former town president Upendra Raghav have also been named in the FIR in the case, but they have yet to be detained. Raj’s arrest takes the total number of accused held in the 3 December violence over alleged cow slaughter to 31. [caption id=“attachment_5826801” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] The press release from the police on Yogesh Raj’s arrest. Image Courtesy: 101Reporters[/caption] Before this, the police had arrested a man, accused of attacking the police inspector with an axe on Tuesday. Kalua, the accused, told the police that on 3 December, he was felling a tree to block a road. When the inspector stopped him from doing so, he attacked him with an axe, the officer said. On 27 December, the police had arrested Prashant Nat , who allegedly shot the inspector dead after the axe attack. Five people were arrested on 18 December for their alleged roles in the mob violence and the cow slaughter case. Violence had erupted in Bulandshahr after cow carcasses were found in a field near Mahaw village in the district. The inspector and a youth had died during the violence. An FIR against 27 named people and 50 to 60 unidentified people was registered at the Siyana Police Station for the violence at the Chingrawathi Police Post.