Inspector Subodh Kumar, who was killed in violent clashes in Bulandshahr on Monday.

The inspector who was shot dead in the Bulandshahr clashes on Monday (December 3), was the investigating officer in the Akhlaq lynching case that rocked the nation in the early days of the Modi government.

Inspector Subodh Kumar and a local youth were killed in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr on Monday when a mob went on a rampage over allegations of illegal cow slaughter.

On September 28, 2015 a mob barged into the house of Mohammad Akhlaq in Dadri. The mob dragged him and his son out of the house and beat him to death while critically injuring his son. Akhlaq was accused of killing a calf and keeping the meat in his fridge.

Bulandshahr District Magistrate Anuj Jha has confirmed that Kumar died after being shot in the head.

Jha told India Today TV, "Doctors have confirmed that Inspector Subodh Kumar died due to a bullet shot in his head. An SIT [special investigative team] has been formed to probe the matter. The groups that were protesting illegal cattle slaughter attacked Inspector Subodh and also the police station."

The mob attacked the local police station and set it on fire while also attacking the slain police officer.

An eye witness told India Today TV, Inspector Subodh could have been saved but the agitators didn’t let the policemen take Subodh Kumar to the hospital.

Additional Director General (Meerut zone) Prashant Kumar said the protesters from Mahaw village and nearby areas pelted stones on the police and indulged in arson, setting ablaze several vehicles and Chingarwathi police post.

As tension prevailed in the area following the violence on Monday that lasted nearly three hours, the Uttar Pradesh government deployed additional police, including over 1,000 personnel of anti-riot forces, and ordered multiple probes -- by SIT, ADG-Intelligence -- and a magisterial inquiry.

Police say the area grew tense when the carcass of a cow was found dumped in a forest area outside the Mhaw village, reported PTI.

Right-wing activists soon gathered at the spot to allege that members of another community were indulging in cow slaughter, thus triggering tension in the area.

Soon, they started raising slogans against the administration and police and turned violent. The mob pelted stones, set the police station on fire and opened fire that killed two.

According to sources, the slain officer investigated Mohammad Akhlaq’s murder in 2015 in Dadri. He had also managed to arrest some of the accused who were involved in the brutal killing of Akhlaq.

UP CM Yogi Adityanath expressed grief over the deaths in violence in Bulandshahr and sought a probe report into the incident within two days, according to an official statement.

The statement said Adityanath has directed Additional Director General of Police (Intelligence) S B Shiradkar to immediately reach the spot, and submit a probe report, containing reasons behind the violence and details about the guilty, within two days.