The wife of slain police officer Subodh Kumar Singh, killed by a mob in Bulandshahr district in December 2018, has claimed a threat to her life after the main accused in the incident was granted bail on Wednesday. Yogesh Raj, one the five men accused in the murder case, was released on bail.
Rajani Singh said, “Seven of the 33 accused, including the main accused, have been granted bail. I am extremely upset with the legal system. I sometimes get the feeling that one of these days they will kill me also. It would be for the best. There will be no one to complain and none to listen.”
The slain cops’ wife said, “If such people are not brought to justice, who would be? If people who gave up their lives for the nation do not get justice, who will? I just don’t understand what this procedure is. These people have become brazen about their power. This has now become the norm. These people do anything to please their leaders.”
The case of mob violence that took place on December 3 after a cow carcass was found in a sugarcane field near Mahav village of Siyana, which led the death of Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, the station house officer of Siyana, and local youth, Sumit Kumar and Chingrawati police picket was set on fire. Police booked 27 named and more than 60 unnamed in the violence under more than a dozen IPC sections including murder, attempt to murder, dacoity, grievous hurt to public servant and sedition.
According to police, a man armed with an axe had chopped off two of Singh’s fingers and hit him on the head. Another man shot him dead.
In August, the seven accused Rajiv, Rohit, Raghav, Saurav, Jitendra Malik, Rajkumar and Shikhar Agarwal were given hero’s welcome by their supporters on their release. Social media was abuzz with the shared video, which showed that the seven accused were garlanded and greeted with hugs and chanting of ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and ‘Vande Mataram’. Later, the supporters also threw a “welcome party” in “honour” of the seven men.
One of the accused out on bail since August 26, Shikhar Agarwal is a member of Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) and Jitendra Malik is Army personnel from 22 Rashtriya Rifles and posted in Sopore, Jammu and Kashmir. He was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (UP STF) on December 9 after his name came up as the main conspirator who killed inspector Subodh Kumar Singh. But, he was not chargesheeted for the murder. Agarwal was arrested in January this year from Hapur district after he remained absconding for over a month.
The family had demanded that the bail granted to the accused men be cancelled. They had made the same demand in August, when the first batch of men was released.
Numerous cases of mob lynching have been reported across India with the majority being reported from Uttar Pradesh.