Bulandshahr violence: UP Police removes SSP from post after incident; intelligence report questions cops' role

The Uttar Pradesh Police on Saturday morning removed Bulandshahr Senior Superintendent of Police Krishna Bahadur Singh from his post. Bulandshahr has been in the news for cow-related violence that took the life of a police inspector and a civilian on 3 December. He has been replaced by Prabhakar Chaudhary, who was Sitapur district’s Superintendent of Police. Krishna Bahadur Singh has now been sent to the Director General of Police (DGP) headquarters. Chaudhary is a 2010 batch IPS officer. He came into the limelight in 2016 after travelling in a bus to Kanpur Dehat, with just a backpack, to take charge as SP. When he arrived, police officers at the station did not recognise him. He is known for his clean image and ability to take prompt action. Late Friday, the government transferred Syana circle officer (CO) Satya Prakash Sharma and Chingravati police outpost in-charge Suresh Kumar, for their failure in handling violence that broke out in Bulandshahr on Monday, 3 December. [caption id=“attachment_5664021” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  People protesting over alleged cow slaughter in Bulandshahr. Image: 101Reporters[/caption] According to highly-placed sources in the police headquarters, this action was taken after Additional Director General (ADG) of intelligence, SB Shiradkar, submitted a confidential investigation report to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. If sources are to be believed, the intelligence report submitted by Shiradkar has questioned the Uttar Pradesh Police’s role in the incident in which inspector Subodh Singh and civilian Sumit Kumar were killed. Sources further claimed that the report also mentions that the police did not take any cognisance of complaints on cow slaughter carried out in the area. Though the Uttar Pradesh Police has termed this incident as a big conspiracy , Adityanath in Delhi called it an accident . Former Uttar Pradesh DGP Vikram Singh said that he believed transferring the police officers was justified, because the district police in-charge failed to send reinforcement on time. Singh also said that the mob should have been dealt with in a more strict manner. “The SSP did not reach the spot on time, and his action in this case is questionable. I also fail to understand why the police has not yet announced any rewards for arresting Yogesh and Shikhar, who are accused of rioting and are releasing their videos. These people are still on the run, and they should have been nabbed within 12 hours,” the former DGP said. Former IPS officer SR Darapuri said that the actions taken by the government will demoralise police in the future. “All the outfits who are being blamed for this incident are linked with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the government is giving them an opportunity to prove their innocence,” he said. He added that while the accused named in the FIR are on the run, the police officers who prevented the situation from worsening are currently facing the department’s wrath, after accused Yogesh Raj And Shikhar Agarwal’s videos were leaked. Darapuri claimed that one-sided action is being taken in this case, and that it shows that the government is trying to protect individuals who are from outfits like the Bajrang Dal. The former IPS officer also said that police officers on the spot were successful in controlling the situation. However, Bajrang Dal workers brought the cow carcass in a tractor trolley across the highway in front of the police station, as they were aware that Muslims men returning from a religious congregation would travel along the same route, giving them the opportunity to create a ruckus. Samajwadi Party’s spokesperson Abdul Hafiz Gandhi, reacting on the developments in Bulandshahr, said, “Yogi Adityanath is the most incompetent chief minister Uttar Pradesh has ever seen. He only knows how to communalise and polarise. Development and ensuring rule of law is not his cup of tea.” He further said that the chief minister’s action after the Bulandshahr incident is a grim reminder of the fact that the Uttar Pradesh government is “more interested in creating communal polarisation for the forthcoming elections in 2019”. Gandhi added that the state government’s priorities are now clear, and that it is not interested in bringing Yogesh Raj, the prime accused, to justice. (Saurabh Sharma is a Lucknow based freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters)