Main accused in Bulandshahr violence granted bail

On December 3, Yogesh Raj and several other accused protested outside Chingrawait police booth against an alleged incident of cow slaughter in Siyana. Siyana SHO Subodh Kumar Singh tried to control the crowd but riots broke out soon. During the violence, one of the accused shot Subodh Kumar Singh with his service revolver. One of the protesters, Sumit, was also shot dead by the police officer, allegedly in self-defence.

“An official copy by the Allahabad High Court will be sent for verification. The process can take up to 3-4 days after only which the jail authorities will allow his release. We had been pleading innocence since the beginning and we respect the decision of the honourable Court,” said Yogesh Raj’s lawyer Bruno Bhushan.

The Special Investigation Team, appointed to look into the case, had filed a chargesheet against 38 persons in connection with the violence. Yogesh Raj and 32 others were charged with rioting and violence while five were charged with the murder of the policeman.

The development comes a month after Shikhar Agarwal along with other six accused were granted bail in a case of alleged rioting and violence. The accused, Rajiv, Rohit, Raghav, Shikhar Agarwal, Jitendra Malik, Rajkumar and Sourav allegedly attempted murder, rioted and committed arson during the protests.

Yogesh Raj and Shikhar Agarwal had released videos pleading innocence while they were on the run. Raj was arrested on January 3 this year after he had been hiding for a month in Haridwar.

The police, in their chargesheet, had submitted that Yogesh and other key accused exchanged a series of phone calls on the morning of December 3 that led to the violence over alleged cow slaughter. The police had held that Yogesh Raj was instrumental in gathering the crowd to protest against the cow slaughter.