Bulandshahr violence attempt to instill fear among Muslims, claim human rights bodies
New Delhi, Dec 30: The recent Bulandshahr violence that claimed the lives of a policeman and a 20-year-old man was a "targeted attempt" to "instill fear" in the Muslim community, an umbrella organisation of human rights bodies claimed Sunday and demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe into it.
Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and civilian Sumit Kumar of Chingrawathi village were killed on December 3 in the mob violence that broke out in Bulandshahr's Siyana area after cattle carcasses were found strewn outside a village.
The incident happened when the election process in five states -- Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Telangana -- was underway.
"Hindutva Wadi forces masterminded" the incident to "polarise" the voters because of the "ongoing elections in five states", the organisation claimed, whose members visited Bulandshahr and presented a "fact-finding" committee's report here, and demanded a new law to check hate crimes.
The National Confederation of Human Rights Organisation (NCHRO) sought an immediate ban on all groups and 'senas' which use weapons "in the name of cow protection".
Addressing the media at the Press Club here, members of the NCHRO claimed that the violence was a "planted incident" to create unrest in the area and elsewhere "in the name of cow".
"The mob, at the instigation of local Bajrang Dal and BJP Yuva Morcha leaders Yogesh Raj and Shikhar Agrawal, gathered at the Chingrawathi police post and burnt down many vehicles, staged a shootout and pelted stones on the police force," it said in a statement.
The "fact-finding" team member Manoj Singh, of the All India People's Forum, claimed the way a purported video of the inspector's killing was shot "clearly indicates" the mob received political protection.
"In a peaceful area like Bulandshahr, the December 3 incident was a targeted attempt by Sangh-BJP organisations to instill fear in the Muslim community," said Singh.
He claimed that small skirmishes between local groups were used as an excuse to start communal clashes.
"There are clear signs of political conspiracies at play to discourage honest members of the administration, like Inspector Subodh, through intimidation and fear of life," he said.
He said there were also no signs of cow slaughtering at the fields outside Mahaw village, where the carcasses were found on December 3 morning, "which makes it clear that the mob violence...was executed through meticulous planning".
The NCHRO also highlighted that several innocent people, including two minors, were put behind bars while the key suspect, Bajrang Dal local leader Yogesh Raj, was still at large.
"A law should be made to contain mob violence and an immediate ban on all organisations and 'senas' which use weapons and have led the country to a civil war-like situation in the name of cow protection," the NCHRO said.
"Also another law be made and strictly implemented to ensure a state government's responsibility to check hate crimes and elements spreading hate crimes," it said.
The Home Ministry should review it on regular basis and share details in every parliamentary session on what steps it has taken to check riots and hate crimes, said Singh.
Another team member, Ansar Indori, claimed that the incident was a "planned affair".
"The occurrence of such a big incident in the presence of the administration proves that it was planned affair. Police presence deterred the violence from spreading further. The murder of a police officer at the hands of the mob occurred as he was executing his duties," Indori, an advocate by profession, told reporters.
Meanwhile, Sarfuddin, a resident of Nayabans village, who was initially arrested by the police following a complaint by Raj, told reporters that he would move court against his arrest.
He was arrested under Indian penal Code sections 358 (assault or criminal force on grave provocation) and 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class) but released after 16 days.
"I was put in jail for 16 days when I had done nothing. I am the president of the village's mosque committee and I was named under a conspiracy," he said.
Sarfuddin, who runs a clothes shop in Siyana town, also alleged that he was being threatened by a leader of a local right wing group who was opposed to the loudspeaker being installed on the mosque in 2017.
Seven people -- two children aged 11 and 12, a non-existent man, a man living in Faridabad for over a decade, besides Sarfuddin -- were named in the FIR for cow slaughter on a complaint by Raj.
The police recently arrested three men who were not named in the FIR for their role in the alleged cow slaughter on December 3.
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Kerala court sentences man to life imprisonment for doc's murder in hospital
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Kollam (PTI): A teacher convicted in the sensational murder of Dr Vandana Das inside a hospital here was sentenced to life term on Saturday, and the prosecution said it will move an appeal seeking death penalty for the accused. The victim's family also batted for "maximum punishment".
Dr Das was brutally killed inside a taluk hospital in May 2023 by G Sandeep.
Kollam Additional District and Sessions judge P N Vinod sentenced Sandeep to a total of 30 years for various offences under the then Indian Penal Code (IPC) and said that after he serves that period, his life imprisonment for Das' murder will commence.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 2.35 lakh on the convict.
Though the prosecution had sought death penalty for the accused during the arguments on sentence, the court was of the view that the case does not fall under the rarest-of-rare category to warrant the maximum punishment.
It was also of the view that there was a chance of the convict getting reformed as he told the court that the rest of his life would be one of repentance, the order on sentence said.
"At the same time, I agree with the stand of the prosecution to the effect that the sentence should commensurate with the gravity of the crime and the sentence should not only be reformative, but should also have a deterrent effect."
"In my view, the said objective can be achieved by directing that the term sentences that will be imposed will run consecutively and life sentence that has to be imposed will commence only after the expiration of terms sentences," the judge said.
After the verdict, special public prosecutor (SPP) Prathap G Padickal told reporters outside the court that he will recommend to the prosecution to file an appeal seeking enhancement of the life imprisonment to death penalty.
The victim's father said that the verdict has come as a relief for the family, but that he cannot authoritatively say whether his late daughter has got justice. He indicated his dissatisfaction with the punishment, saying that steps will be taken to seek its enhancement after discussions with the public prosecutor.
Dr Das' mother said that the family can only wish for the maximum punishment and it was up to the court to decide what sentence should be given. She said that the family will go in appeal, but declined to comment on whether her daughter got justice.
She tearfully said that she wants the convict to suffer the same pain that her daughter underwent "as he stabbed her 27 times".
The court on March 17 had convicted Sandeep for various offences under the IPC, including murder, destruction of evidence and wrongful restraint.
It had also held him guilty under the provisions of the Kerala Healthcare Service Persons and Healthcare Service Institutions (Prevention of violence and damage to property) Act 2012.
Sandeep was brought to the taluk hospital by the police for medical treatment during the small hours of May 10, 2023 and he went on a sudden attacking spree using a pair of surgical scissors kept in the room where his leg injury was being dressed.
A school teacher by profession, he had initially attacked the police officers and another person who had accompanied him to the hospital and then turned on the young Dr Das, who could not escape to safety.
She was stabbed several times and later succumbed to her injuries in a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram where she was rushed following the attack.
Dr Das was a native of the Kaduthuruthy area of Kottayam district and the only child of her parents.
She was a house surgeon at Azeezia Medical College Hospital and was working at the Kottarakkara taluk hospital as part of her training.
Sandeep had called the emergency number 112, claiming that his life was in danger. When local police located him, he was standing close by his home, surrounded by local residents and his relatives, and had a wound on his leg following an alleged quarrel.
He was then taken to the hospital for dressing the wound.
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