Police claim arrest of prime accused in Bulandshahr violence

The Uttar Pradesh police on Thursday, December 27, claimed to have arrested the prime accused in the killing of police inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, who was shot dead during mob violence in Bulandshahr earlier this month.

Police sources said the prime accused Prashant Nat was arrested after his identification from a series of mobile phone-made videos of the violence.

The police took Nat and his accomplice to Kalwa for recreating the crime scene. The police said all the accused in the incident were from the Chingrawathi village, of which four are in jail now.

Initially the prime accused was Yogesh Raj, the Bajrang Dal district convenor, but he is still at large.

A police inspector and another local Sumit Gautam were killed in the mob violence that broke out in Bulandshahr on December 3 after cattle carcasses were found in a field.

Right-wing groups demanded action against some locals and blocked traffic on a main road after which a police team rushed to the scene, only to be attacked by an infuriated crowd.

Stones were thrown at them, and later police officer Subodh Kumar Singh was shot dead. The Bulandshahr SSP was shifted after the violence and some policemen were also transferred.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had first called the violence an "incident" but later said that it was a big political conspiracy.