Out on bail, Bulandshahr violence accused gets hero welcome

Lucknow, Aug 25: Six accused, who were released on bail for Bulandshahr violence, received hero's welcome amid chants of "Jai Shri Ram" and "Vande Mataram."

Supporters were seen taking selfies and garlanding the accused, who were released on bail recently.

Names of the accused who were released on bail are Jeetu Fauji, Shikhar Agarwal, Upendra Singh Raghav, Hemu, Saurav and Rohit Raghav.

A video shot by locals shows key accused Shikhar Agarwal and Jeetu Fauji being garlanded by their supporters and raising chanting Jai Shri Ram, Bharat Mata ki Jai and Vande Mataram slogans, after they showed up outside the district jail on Saturday evening.

The violence broke out in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pardesh in December 2018 after a group of Gau Rakshak found the corpse of cows in Mahav village near Bulandshahr. Later, a mob of around 400 people went on a rampage through the Chingrawathi village. The ensuing violence resulted in the death of inspector Subodh Kumar.

Shikhar Agarwal, who was a Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha member, was arrested a few days after the Bulandshahr mob violence. He also released a video claiming that Inspector Subodh was corrupt and had threatened to kill him.

In March 2019, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Uttar Pradesh police filed a charge sheet against 38 people in a local court. Out of the 38 accused, five were charged with the murder of Inspector Subodh.