Bulandshahr violence: Bajrang Dal asks Yogesh Raj to surrender, says he is innocent
Bulandshahr (UP), Dec 5: The Bajrang Dal on Wednesday asked its Bulandshahr convenor Yogesh Raj, the main accused in the mob violence here which left two people dead, to surrender before police and said it believed he is innocent.
The right-wing group also demanded a probe into the incident by the CBI, saying the police themselves were the complainant.
Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, who had initially probed the 2015 lynching of Mohammed Akhlaq, and a 20-year-old local man, Sumit Kumar, died of gunshot injuries on Monday as a rampaging mob protesting alleged illegal cow slaughter torched a police post in Bulandshahr and clashed with cops.
Raj is among the nearly 90 people booked for rioting and violence.
Some villagers in Mahav, where the cow carcasses were found strewn, have claimed that the locals had agreed to compromise and wanted to bury the animals' remains. But the right-wing activists carried them to the police post, creating a ruckus.
"Yes, we admit having brought the carcasses to the police station because we wanted action against those involved in cow slaughter. But when the police had agreed to our demand and registered an FIR, then why should we create ruckus?" Bajrang Dal's Western Uttar Pradesh region co-convenor Praveen Bhati asked.
Asked why then Raj's name had cropped up, he said, "It is because the two incidents have been linked. The people who had gathered here were outraged over cow slaughter and Yogesh Raj went to the police station to get a case registered."
"What happened here (violence at Chingrawathi police post) in the meantime, Yogesh Raj has got nothing to do with it. He is our district convenor, we are with him and he is innocent. He will cooperate with the police and come out at the right time," he said.
Bhati claimed Singh and Kumar were shot with guns of same bore.
"Sumit was killed by a private weapon and the police had fired that bullet. The FIR mentions that Subodh Kumar's private pistol was robbed. What was he doing there with the private weapon? The bore of the guns with which both were shot are the same," he said.
Bhati said Raj should surrender.
"Certainly he should surrender, but I should also make it clear that the probe should be conducted by a bigger agency for the truth to be revealed. In this FIR, the police themselves are the complainant and in such a situation how can they carry out a fair probe?" Bhati asked.
When told that a special investigation team is probing the incident, he said, "I am not satisfied with this, I think the CBI should probe it. All over the country the Bajrang Dal's image is being maligned and we are being portrayed as a violent organisation..."
"At least the truth should come out that a district level worker of Bajrang Dal cannot do such things," he added.
Bhati said connecting Singh's death with that fact that he was probing the Akhlaq lynching case would be incorrect.
The Bajrang Dal leader claimed Raj was on cordial terms with the inspector.
Bhati said he last spoke to Raj on the night of the incident and till then there was no complaint against him.
"Truth should come out and Yogesh should be brought to book if he is found guilty," he said.
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'Someone must be held accountable': HC converts civil suit on Goa nightclub tragedy into PIL
Panaji (PTI): The Bombay High Court on Monday converted a civil suit against Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub into a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) saying "someone has to be held accountable" for the tragedy in which 25 people were killed.In a stern observation, Goa bench of the High Court of Justices Sarang Kotwal and Ashish Chavan said the local panchayat had "failed to take suo motu cognisance" of the club and had taken "no action despite complaints."
The division bench directed the Goa government to file a detailed reply on the permissions granted to the nightclub.
The High Court, while fixing January 8 as the next date of hearing, pointed out that commercial operations were continuing in the structure despite it having been served a demolition order.
The original petition was filed after the December 6 tragedy by Pradeep Ghadi Amonkar and Sunil Divkar, the owners of the land on which the nightclub was operating.
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Advocate Rohit Bras de Sa, the lawyer representing the petitioner, was made amicus curiae in the matter and has been asked to file a detailed affidavit in the matter.
In their petition, Amonkar and Divkar highlighted "the alarming pattern of statutory violations that have remained inadequately addressed despite multiple complaints, inspections, show-cause notices, and even a demolition order".
They contended that these violations posed "immediate threats to public safety, ecological integrity, and the rule of law in the state of Goa."
Investigations by multiple agencies into the nightclub fire have revealed various irregularities, including lack of permissions to operate the nightclub.
The Goa police arrested five managers and staff members of the club, while co-owners Gaurav Luthra and Saurabh Luthra have been detained in Thailand after they fled the country.
