38 convicted, 5 of themheld guilty of murder
LUCKNOW/BULANDSHAHR, July 31 -- Nearly seven years after the December 3, 2018 communal violence in Bulandshahr, a local court on Wednesday convicted 38 people for their involvement in the incident, which led to the deaths of a police inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and a civilian, said special government counsel Yashpal Singh Raghav.
However, two key accused, including a local Bajrang Dal leader Yogesh Raj and a former Rashtriya Rifles jawan Jeetendra Malik alias Jeetu Fauji, who were initially accused as key conspirators in the case, have not been convicted under charges of murders of the inspector and the civilian. The court convicted the duo under charges of attempt to murder, rioting, other Indian Penal Code sections and 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment. The court will announce the sentences on August 1, Raghav said. Raghav said five accused were convicted under IPC Section 302 (murder) for the murders of the inspector and the civilian, while the remaining 33 have been found guilty of rioting, attempt to murder and various other charges. He said around 44 individuals including current district panchayat members and village head Yogesh Raj were named as accused. Five of them have since died, and one minor was released earlier, he added. Meerut deputy inspector general (DIG) Kalanidhi Naithani said those convicted under murder charges were Prashant Nat, Rahul, David, Lokendra Singh and Johnny, all residents of Chingrawathi. He said the court found these five convicts specifically guilty of the murder of inspector Subodh Kumar Singh.
"Others convicts included Yogesh Raj, Jeetendra Malik alias Jeetu, the father and son duo Devendra and Chaman, Ashish Chauhan, Rohit Kumar Raghav, Jitendra alias Lalla Gurjar, Sonu Jatav, Nitin. Mohit, Ramesh Jogi, Vishal Tyagi, Hemraj alias Hemu, Ankur, Amit, Ashish, Harendra, Bhupesh alias Tinku, Mukesh alias Guddu, Sachit Jaat, Satyendra Rajput, Satish Lodhi, Vineet Jaat, Rajeev Kumar Jaat, Sachin Jaat alias Cobra, Pawan Kumar Lodhi, Shikhar Agarwal, Upendra Raghav, Saurabh Kumar, former village pradhan Rajkumar, Nitin Pandit, Jaydeep alias Kaluwa," he emphasised.
"Following a robust trial and the evidence available on record, the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Gopal Ji convicted 38 accused. The court will announce the quantum of punishment on Friday," Raghav said. As per the case details, the violence erupted on December 3, 2018, in Chingrawathi village under Syana police station limits of Bulandshahr district after cow carcasses were reportedly found in nearby Mahaw village. The discovery triggered protests by right-wing Hindu groups and villagers, leading to large-scale violence, arson. Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, who was attempting to control the mob, was shot dead. A civilian, identified as Sumit Kumar of Chingrawathi village, was also killed.
The mob, allegedly incited by Hindu group leader Yogesh Raj, reached the Chingrawathi police outpost in tractor-trolleys loaded with the animal remains. They blocked the highway, moved towards the police outpost and began pelting stones at the police when stopped, eventually torching the outpost. Following the incident, Case No. 583/18 was registered at the Syana police station on December 4, 2018 under IPC sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting while armed with a deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to a public servant to deter them from duty), 333 (causing grievous hurt to a public servant), 341 (wrongful restraint), 336 (endangering human life or the safety of others), 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance), 427 (mischief), 109 (abetment of an offence), 307 (attempt to murder), 395 (dacoity), 412 (dishonestly receiving or retaining property stolen during a dacoity), 302 (murder); Section 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act; and Section 3/4 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act. The police submitted the charge sheet in court on March 1, 2019.
The main accused Yogesh Raj, a district panchayat member, was recently released on bail by the Supreme Court. Despite being named as the key conspirator in the police complaint filed by SI Subhash Singh, Raj had been out of custody for much of the trial period.
Heavy police deployment from two local police stations was maintained at the court during the verdict on Wednesday due to the sensitivity of the case. Defence lawyer Ashok Dagar expressed dissatisfaction with the judgment and said the verdict would be challenged in the High Court.
Initially, cases were filed against 60 people - 27 of them named. However, the final police charge sheet identified only 44 individuals as accused, citing lack of evidence against the remaining 16.
Former SHO Premchand Sharma confirmed that 44 people were arrested and sent to jail.Five of them have since died, one minor has been released, and 38 were tried in court. Of these, four remain in jail, while the rest are out on bail.Even seven years after the incident, police have not been able to recover inspector Subodh Kumar Singh's licensed pistol, which went missing during the mob attack.The government counsel said that the accused Prashant Nat confessed during police remand that he used the service weapon of the inspector. Later he threw it in the canal. However, police were not able to recover the pistol....
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