Bulandshahr: SIT report reveals innocent Muslim men were arrested on cow-slaughter charges

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the alleged cow slaughter in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr revealed that the four Muslims men arrested on the charge are innocent and the cops would soon move the court for their release.

Around a fortnight after their arrest, Sarfuddin, Sajid, Asif and Nanhe have been prima facie found innocent. The four men had been arrested on the basis of a complaint lodged by district Bajrang Dal convenor Yogesh Raj, who claimed seven people had slaughtered cows.

According to a report in The Indian Express, Bulandshahr SSP Prabhakar Chaudhary said, “Prima facie, we found all four persons arrested earlier are innocent and after verifying other details we will move the court for their release.”

"Another three men – Nadeem, Raees and Kaala – were arrested for their role in the cow slaughtering incident. A vehicle and a licensed weapon have also been recovered from their possession,” Bulandshahr Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Prabhakar Chaudhary said.

Three of them have been arrested by the Bulandshahr police for their involvement in the cow slaughtering case, while two accused were nabbed by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) for the subsequent violence on December 3, the officials said.

Earlier on Tuesday, police had were arrested five persons for their alleged roles in the mob violence and the cow slaughtering cases in Bulandshahr earlier this month that had claimed two lives including that of an on-duty inspector and a civilian, officials said.

He said the trio was not named in the initial FIR, which had seven accused including two minors of Nayabans village, but during the probe their names emerged.

“The police are investigating the matter and the names of these three men have emerged for their role in the cow slaughter. Further probe is on," Chaudhary said.

Sachin Singh alias Cobra (21) and Johnny Chaudhary (19) were arrested on Tuesday evening by the Noida unit of STF, which had also joined the probe in the adjoining district, for their role in the violence on December 3, a senior official said.

“Working on a tip-off, the two men, whose identity had been ascertained post the violence, were picked up at 4.15 pm from a bus stand in Gathiya Badshahpur in Siyana tehsil of Bulandshahr,” Deputy Superintendent of Police, STF, Raj Kumar Mishra said.

With the arrest of these two men, the number of the those held for the violence has gone up to 19 so far, SSP Chaudhary said.

An FIR against 27 named people and 50 to 60 unidentified people was registered at the Siyana police station for the violence that was witnessed at Chingrawathi police post after cattle carcasses were found strewn outside nearby Mahaw village of the district.

Police inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and civilian Sumit Kumar, 20, were killed of bullet shots during the mob violence on December 3. One of the main suspects among the 27 named in the FIR, local Bajrang Dal leader Yogesh Raj, is still absconding, while an Army jawan, Jitendra Malik, has been arrested and remanded in custody.