india

Updated: Dec 09, 2018 12:33 IST

An army soldier who is accused of killing a police inspector in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr was arrested past midnight after his unit handed him over to the UP police for investigation.

“We’ve arrested Army jawan Jeetendra Malik, he was handed over by Army at 12:50 am today (Sunday). Preliminary interrogation has been done,” senior superintendent of police, Special Task Force, Abhishek Singh said, reported ANI news agency.

Jeetendra Malik alias Jeetu Fauji was brought to Meerut by his unit based in Kashmir’s Sopore and handed over to the STF after completion of necessary formalities with local army officials. He was taken to Bulandshahr subsequently and handed over to the special investigation team investigating the killing of inspector Subodh Kumar Singh in the violence that broke out in Bulandshahr on Monday over alleged illegal cow slaughter. A local youth named Sumit Kumar was also killed.

“He (Malik) accepted he was there when the crowd started gathering. Prima facie, it has been found true. It’s not yet ascertained if he is the one who shot the inspector or Sumit. He said he went there with villagers, but denied pelting stones on police. Forensic (examination) of his mobile will be done,” Singh added, as per ANI.

After scanning video recordings, the state police began searching for the soldier, who is reportedly seen firing during the Bulandshahr violence that led to the death of the police inspector and the youth.

A senior police officer privy to the investigations confirmed that one of the videos shows the army man, a resident of Bulandshahr, firing, but his involvement in the killings is yet to be ascertained.

The UP police team investigating the case had contacted the army and sought custody of the soldier who had left his home soon after the violence.

Sources said that after getting nod from top officials of the army, it was decided to hand over Malik to the police. On Friday, an army spokesman had said that police had contacted the Army’s northern command and fullest cooperation was being extended to them.

Malik’s wife Priyanka, who had spoken to her husband on Friday, had told media that an army team will bring her husband to Meerut on Saturday. She, however, claimed that he is being falsely implicated in the case as they were in the Syana market when the violence erupted.

His brother Dharmendra Malik, who is also in the army, has alleged that his brother had became victim of a conspiracy and demanded help from UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath for a fair probe.

Malik’s mother has said that she would kill him herself if it was proved that he had shot dead police inspector Subodh Kumar during the violence in Bulandshahr, as was claimed through some videos of the incident.