CM Yogi Adityanath Promises Strict Action Against Cow Slaughter, Silent on Bulandshahr Cop’s Killers

Lucknow: Amid outrage all over the nation over killing of a police inspector in Bulandshahr during mob violence, the Yogi Adityanath administration’s priority seems to be cow slaughter that triggered the right-wing men in the mob and not the act of violence itself.

After belatedly calling a meeting to review the situation in Bulandshahr on Tuesday night, the Uttar Pradesh chief minister directed the police to take strict action against those involved in the alleged cow slaughter, a senior police official who attended the meeting said.

The additional chief secretary (Information) Avinish Awasthi said the CM felt the incident was part of a “bigger conspiracy”, and hence, all those directly or indirectly related to cow slaughter should be arrested in a time-bound manner.

"The UP Chief Minister directed (officials) for a thorough probe in the incident. Instructions were also issued to take stringent action against people involved in cow slaughter," he said.

Neither the chief minister nor the officials present at the meeting said a word about the murder of police inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, who was shot in the head as he was trying to pacify the mob.

The police has named 28 men in a case of murder and attempt to murder, of which eight belong to right-wing outfits Bajrang Dal, VHP and the BJP’s own youth wing. There is also suspicion that the entire incident was an attempt to manufacture a riot due to the timing, the location and the sequence of events.

The cow slaughter that the UP government said triggered the violence was seen by only Bajrang Dal member Yogesh Raj, who is also the main accused in the inspector’s murder and is currently absconding.

There are also other oddities in the run-up to the violence, like how the cow carcasses were hung up for display despite it being a sensitive issue in the area and how Hindu groups suddenly arrived at the spot that give credence to the theory that it was a right-wing conspiracy to stoke tension.

Yet, the state government has decided to focus on cow slaughter. The chief minister had already faced the flak from the opposition parties for attending a laser show in Gorakhpur on Tuesday. When the violence broke out in Bulandshahr on Monday, he was campaigning in Rajasthan.

The Opposition has said that such incidents are part of attempts to incite communal unrest in the society ahead of polls.

BJP ally and minister in Yogi Adityanath government Om Prakash Rajbhar also attacked his own government saying the cow vigilantism in Bulandshahr as part of “well-planned conspiracy”. He went on to add: “Groups like the VHP, the Bajrang Dal and the RSS seems to be part of this conspiracy as there was a huge Muslim gathering some miles away in the same district.”