Key accused in Bulandshahr violence case Shikhar Agarwal and Jeetu Fauji can be seen being garlanded as people jostle to get pictures and selfies clicked with him. (Express photo) Key accused in Bulandshahr violence case Shikhar Agarwal and Jeetu Fauji can be seen being garlanded as people jostle to get pictures and selfies clicked with him. (Express photo)

The seven accused who were granted bail in the December 3 Bulandshahr violence and arson case were welcomed with cheers and slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram’, ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’, and ‘Vande Mataram’ after they stepped out of the district jail on Saturday evening.

In videos that have gone viral on social media, key accused Shikhar Agarwal and Jeetu Fauji can be seen being garlanded as people jostle to get pictures and selfies clicked with them.

Cattle carcasses were found strewn in the fields outside village Mahaw in Siyana on December 3 last year after which a mob went on the rampage alleging cow slaughter and attacked the local Chingrawathi police post. Police inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and civilian Sumit Kumar, 20, died of bullet shots during the violence.

Two separate FIRs were registered – one for the violence in which nearly 80 people including 27 named, and the other for cow slaughter – at the Siyana police station.

Raghvendra Kumar Mishra, who headed the Special Investigation Team, said the seven who were granted bail were accused in the arson case and not the murder of the SHO and the local during the violence. He informed that six accused in the murder case were still lodged in jail.

A total of 38 people, including local BJP and Bajrang Dal leaders, were arrested for the violence. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed to probe the case and it filed a charge sheet in the court of the chief judicial magistrate on March 2, almost three months after the incident.

While the key accused were charged with IPC sections relating to the riots, Prashant Natt, along with four others, had been charged with the murder of Subodh Kumar Singh. According to the chargesheet, Natt attacked Subodh with an axe before shooting him with his own licensed revolver.

The SIT had submitted that Bajrang Dal activists “led” the crowd that formed the blockade outside Siyana police booth with the tractor that contained the alleged cow carcasses. “The crowd was responsible for destroying State property and the violence was incited to create law and order problems. Objectionable slogans were raised against the police”, stated the chargesheet.

(With ENS inputs)

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