Who was Subodh Kumar Singh? Slain Bulandshahr cop was chief investigating officer in 2015 Dadri lynching

A police inspector and a 20-year-old civilian were killed in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr on Monday due to mob violence triggered by an alleged cow slaughter. A mob comprising of members of various Hindu groups found a cow carcass near Chingrawati village and brought it to the police post in the village and demanded action against the culprits. They also raised slogans against the police. However, the crowd soon became unruly and became violent. In the violence that followed, Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh was shot at and sustained a gun injury near his left eyebrow. The autopsy report revealed that he was hit with a .32 bore bullet. Bulandshahr district magistrate Anuj Kumar Jha, said, “In the post-mortem report, a gunshot injury has been confirmed to Late inspector Subodh Kumar Singh. A bullet entered near left eyebrow and is inside the skull.” The Uttar Pradesh Police condoled Singh’s death and said that he “sacrificed his life” to uphold law and order in the district. “With his demise, we have lost one of our finest officers who will always be alive in our hearts as our hero. Our condolences for his family members and prayers for his noble soul,” the department’s official tweet said.

Inspector Subodh kumar singh sacrificed his life to uphold law & order in the district.
With his demise, we have lost one of our finest officers who will always be alive in our hearts as our hero.
Our condolences for his family members & prayers for the noble soul. #UPPolice pic.twitter.com/8azl0Hzlk3

— UP POLICE (@Uppolice) December 3, 2018

Singh was posted as the station house officer (SHO) at Syana police station, after having held the same post at Bisada village in Dadri. Notably, he was the first investigating officer in the Dadri lynching case in which Mohammed Akhlaq was killed over rumours of cow slaughter and beef consumption in 2015. Singh was associated with the probe from 28 September 2015 to 9 November 2015. Reportedly, Singh’s prompt action in bringing evidence samples to the lab in time aided the arrest of the accused. Singh was later transferred to Varanasi, and the chargesheet of the case was filed by another investigating officer in March 2016. However, the start of the trial has been delayed as the city court is still hearing arguments against the 18 accused. All of the accused are currently out on bail. A report by The Indian Express quoted Anurag Singh, a circle officer posted in Lucknow who had worked with Singh on assignments which “included raids where the police team had come under fire”. About Singh, he said, “He was not one to run the other way. He always faced the challenge with bravery, head on. On at least three occasions, I saw him refuse to back down from such a situation.” Singh, the son of a Uttar Pradesh policeman Ram Pratap Singh, reportedly regularly visited Dadri village to ensure peace and harmony among the communities even after the incident. He is survived by his wife and two children, who live in Noida. ANI quoted his son Abhishek saying that Singh had encouraged his children to be “good citizens” who didn’t incite violence “in the name of religion”. He said, “My father wanted me to be a good citizen who doesn’t incite violence in society in the name of religion. Today my father lost his life in this Hindu-Muslim dispute, tomorrow whose father will lose his life?” With inputs from agencies