UP: Man briefly arrested for Bulandshahr violence that led to cop’s killing wins panchayat poll

Noida (UP), May 3

Yogesh Raj, a former Bajrang Dal worker who was briefly arrested in connection with a mob violence that led to the killing of police inspector Subodh Kumar Singh in 2018 in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr, has won a panchayat poll in the district, an official said on Monday.

“He had contested from ward number 5 for the panchayat polls and emerged as the winner among six candidates. His name on official records is mentioned as Yogesh Kumar,” a Bulandshahr administration official told PTI.

The counting for the panchayat polls that were held last month is over but the distribution of certificates to the winners is pending, the official added.

Yogesh Raj was the Bulandshahr unit convenor of the Bajrang Dal in 2018 when the mob violence took place in Siyana area of the district on December 3 over alleged cow slaughter and he was arrested on January 3, 2019, according to the police.

He was among the 80 people -- 27 named and rest unidentified—who were booked by the police over the case but his name was dropped in the charge sheet filed in the court by a special investigation team (SIT) formed to probe the matter.

“He is no longer an office-bearer or member of our group,” Bajrang Dal’s western Uttar Pradesh unit co-convenor Praveen Bhati told PTI.

Bhati said no member of the Bajrang Dal or its parent body Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) can contest such elections.

Inspector Singh, who was the in-charge of the local Siyana police station, and a 20-year-old civilian Sumit Singh were killed in the December 3 violence, which was allegedly instigated by Yogesh Raj.

An FIR was later lodged at the Siyana police station against around 80 people for murder, murder attempt, rioting, sedition, damaging public property, among other charges.

The sedition charge was eventually dropped in the case, according to people privy to the matter.

Besides Yogesh Raj, those booked were Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha’s Siyana unit head Shikhar Agarwal, Army jawan Jeetender Malik, and Kalua, who had first attacked the inspector, surrounded by five to six men. PTI