By Abdul Bari Masoud
New Delhi: Alleging that Yogi Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh is “shielding” real culprits of Bulandshahr violence, the Congress on Saturday demanded a high-level judicial probe by a sitting judge of Supreme Court or by the chief justice of Allahabad High Court into the December 3 Bulandshahr incident. The party said the BJP-led government adopted dilly-dallying tactics as 25 days has been passed but no concrete action has been taken against the perpetrators of violence in which a police Inspector was killed who allegedly belong to saffron groups.
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here, UP congress Committee chief Raj Babbar hit out at the Yogi government calling it Ajay Kumar Bisht government. He said the state has been witnessing ‘lawlessness’ and ‘anarchy’ since the BJP came to power. Referring to mob violence in Bulandshahr, Babbar said “Over 25 days have passed and the government is still dilly-dallying. Sometimes Ajay Kumar Bisht’s government seeks praise for itself; at other times it says it was a conspiracy.”
It is to recall that Bajrang Dal and other saffron outfits attacked the Police near Chingrawathi police post on December 3 after cow carcasses were found strewn in a field near Mahaw village. The violence is being termed as a deep-rooted conspiracy as there was Tablighi Jamaat ijtema was taking place near the spot in which thousands of people were gathered. It is said that the violence in the name of “cow slaughter” was meant to trigger riots in order to help the ruling party in assembly elections in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and 20-year-old Sumit Kumar were shot dead as the mob attacked police.
Congress chief Babbar said the country has been experiencing “mobocracy” since the BJP government came to power at the Centre.
“Since Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, mobocracy has been steadily gaining grounds. There have been numerous incidents of violence and killings across the country but no action has been taken in any case. When the rulers give patronage to mobocracy, administration is rendered helpless.”
His remarks come a day after a court sent to 14-day judicial custody the man who allegedly shot dead Singh.
Prashant Nat was not named in the FIR but was held based on local intelligence, eyewitness accounts and assessment of the video footage that was gathered, Bulandshahr Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Prabhakar Chaudhary had said.
“Earlier someone else was accused, now someone else is the culprit. The people whose names are coming out (in the investigation) are those who are close to the BJP leaders there,” Babbar said.
‘Ajay Singh Bisht had assured the family of the police inspector that they will get justice. He had called them. In all religions when someone dies, people go to their home, but here he called them.’ ‘Will there be justice done… in today’s circumstances, it doesn’t look like,’ he said.
When asked at what level the inquiry should be conducted, Babbar quipped the CM focusing only on cow slaughter instead of probing Singh’s killing, therefore only a judicial enquiry headed by either by a Supreme Court judge or the Allahabad High Court Chief Justice can provide justice and unravel the truth.
He also referred to the remarks of the BJP MLA from Syna, Devendra Singh Lodhi to buttress his point that how the ‘Ajay Singh Bisht government was trying to shield Singh’s killers.
Singh, on Friday had claimed that “Inspector Subodh may have accidently killed himself who was an encounter specialist and he, earlier too, had shot himself in the arm during encounter.”
Babbar also said that Bulandshahr was not an isolated incident. He cited the example of Barabanki and other places where police officers were attacked.
“Ever since the BJP came to power, there have been numerous incidents where BJP leaders and their goons have threatened, humiliated and insulted and attacked police officers.”
He also criticized the Yogi government over FIR being filed on court orders against the Unnao rape victim, her mother and an uncle for allegedly producing a forged age certificate to prove she was a minor.