Army soldier Jitendra Malik, accused of killing inspector Subodh Kumar Singh during a mob attack in Bulandshahr earlier this week, was arrested in Kashmir by the Army’s 22 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) on Saturday while the Uttar Pradesh government transferred Bulandshahr SSP Krishna Bahadur Singh and two other policemen.
A police official confirmed to The Hindu Malik’s arrest in Sopore, where he was posted, and said he had been shifted to Srinagar. “The accused soldier will be handed over to the Uttar Pradesh police’s special task force,” he said.
The soldier, also known as Jeetu Fauji, was in Bulandshahr on 15-day leave when the violence over the alleged cow slaughter took place. The police spotted him in a video of the violence.
Earlier in the day, Army chief General Bipin Rawat offered full cooperation to the police in connection with the soldier’s involvement in the violence.
Police revamp
Principal Secretary (Home) Arvind Kumar said the Bulandshahr SSP would be replaced by Sitapur SP Prabhakar Chaudhary. Syana Circle Officer Satya Prakash Sharma and Chingravati chowki in-charge Suresh Kumar have also been transferred.
The transfers follow Additional Director General (ADG) Intelligence S.B. Shiradkar’s report to the government on the police’s handling of the situation. Police have so far arrested nine accused in the case but the main conspirator, Yogesh Raj, the district convener of the Bajrang Dal, is still absconding.
Probe derailed: Congress
The Congress on Saturday criticised U.P. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for terming the killing of inspector Singh an “accident” and said it was to an attempt to “derail” the probe into the case.
Addressing a press conference, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi alleged that the State government was trying to influence the probe. “The whole objective of this is to derail an independent, impartial investigation into the case. With a wink and a nod, a message (is) being sent — ‘we want you to know that this is the direction and the momentum of the investigation’ — and that is what is happening,” he said.
(With inputs from PTI)
