The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday granted bail to one of the main accused in the Bulandshahr mob violence case, NDTV reported.
Police officer Subodh Kumar Singh was among two people who were killed in a mob attack in Bulandshahr on December 3, 2018, after cattle carcasses were allegedly found in the fields of Mahaw village in Uttar Pradesh. Singh had gone to the site to restore law and order.
Yogesh Raj, the accused who was released on bail, is a Bajrang Dal member and has been charged with inciting a mob of over 400 people to attack Singh. Raj, who had put out several videos while he was absconding, was finally arrested on January 3 this year.
In March, a court in Uttar Pradesh dropped sedition charges filed against 38 accused in the case. Instead, the court directed that they be charged for offences such as murder, attempted murder, criminal conspiracy, rioting and arson.
A local court had released six of the accused last month. After this, a video surfaced showing two of them – one of them Bharatiya Janata Party youth wing leader Shikhar Agarwal – being garlanded by supporters. Slogans such as “Jai Shri Ram” and “Vande Mataram” were also heard in the video. However, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said the government and the BJP had nothing to do with the garlanding of the accused.
Meanwhile, Subodh Kumar Singh’s family demanded that the accused be sent back to jail. His son Shrey Pratap Singh said that such elements were better behind bars than be allowed to roam free. “I urge Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath that these criminals who were in jail for six months should be behind bars in the interest of society,” he said. “Those who can commit a crime once can do it again. I believe that such people out of jail are danger not just for me but also for others.”
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