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Bulandshahr violence: Yogi meets slain inspector's family, calls on PM

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Press Trust of India Lucknow/New Delhi
Last Updated : Dec 06 2018 | 10:25 PM IST

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Thursday met the family members of the inspector killed in mob violence in Bulandshahr, hours before a meeting with Narendra Modi in which the matter was expected to come up.

Modi reached Delhi in the evening and went straight to meet the prime minister. But there was no immediate official word on what transpired at the meeting.

Earlier in the day, the state government announced that a road and a college will be named after the inspector who was killed in Monday's mob violence over alleged cow slaughter.

A 20-year-old man, Sumit Kumar, also died when the mob clashed with policemen after some carcasses were found in the fields.

"The chief minister has assured us that he will remain with us in this difficult time and will ensure justice for us. He said strict action will be taken against those involved," the victim's elder son Shreya Singh said.

After the four arrests announced on Tuesday, there have been no further arrests in connection with the mob violence.

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But two of the absconding men local leaders from the Bajrang Dal and the BJP have appeared on social media, claiming innocence.

A four-member special investigation team headed by Inspector General, Meerut, is leading the probe into the violence and the alleged cow slaughter which triggered it.

The state's Special Task Force (STF) will assist the team, police said.

Earlier, the inspector's younger son Abhishek pleaded against violence over religion.

"My father is dead, tomorrow it can be some IG or a minister, he told a news channel hours before the meeting with Adityanath.

The chief minister met Singh's wife and the two sons at his Kalidas Marg residence in Lucknow, an official spokesman said.

UP Director General of Police O P Singh, who was also present at the meeting, said Adityanath assured the family that education and house loans taken by them would be paid off by the government.

Uttar Pradesh minister Atul Garg later said the loans amounted to Rs 25-30 lakh.

Garg said the Jaithara-Kuraoli road leading to his village in Etah would be renamed after the inspector.

"A college will also be named after Singh to recognise and remember his courage," he said.

The DGP said, "We in the police force are like family. Besides an extraordinary pension, we have also offered a job. But the sons are studying and we have left it to their discretion as they may like to continue with their education," he said.

While the elder son is preparing for the civil services, the younger one is pursuing law, he said.

Adityanath had Monday declared compensation of Rs 40 lakh for the wife, Rs 10 lakh for the parents and a government job for a family member of the inspector, who was the initial investigating officer in the 2015 Akhlaq lynching case.

Mohammed Akhlaq was killed then over rumours about beef consumption.

Meanwhile, in a video that surfaced Thursday, local BJP leader Shikhar Agarwal, who is also named in the FIR, is heard blaming the slain police inspector for the violence which erupted around a police post.

Agarwal, who is BJP's Syana unit youth wing president, claimed it was the inspector who created tension by stopping him and others from taking some carcasses to the Chingrawathi police post for filing an FIR over the alleged cow slaughter.

Earlier, on Wednesday, a man identifying himself as Yogesh Raj, the convenor of Bajrang Dal's Bulandshahr unit, had put out a video message, claiming innocence.

Yet another video appeared to suggest that Sumit Kumar may have been part of the mob which attacked policemen, and not a bystander who got killed in the violence as earlier believed.

But controversial BJP MLA Sangeet Som said there was nothing wrong with giving his family the compensation announced earlier, when Dadri victim Akhlaq's kin could be given government aid.

Sumit Kumar figures among the 27 people named in the FIR registered by police after the violence.

The Yogi Adityanath government continued to face flak from the opposition. CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury alleged the state administration was shielding the accused and harassing the innocent.

An editorial in Shiv Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' also referred to the violence, saying soldiers and policemen do not have any religion.

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First Published: Dec 06 2018 | 10:25 PM IST

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