Allahabad High Court Denies Bail to Bulandshahr Mob Violence Accused

Allahabad: The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday dismissed the bail application of an accused in last year's violence in Bulandshahr, where a mob shot dead a police inspector.

While dismissing accused Lokendra's bail plea, Justice Yashwant Varma observed, "The incident shows that the authority of the State itself was challenged and the deceased, a police officer, mercilessly killed."

In December 2018, a mob attacked the police after some cattle carcasses were found in Bulandshahr's Siyana tehsil.

Police inspector Police Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh was pulled out from his vehicle and shot dead. Another man, believed to be part of the mob, was also killed in the violence.

Justice Varma said, "If such actions were permitted, it would lead to complete anarchy and lead us into the dark ages where individuals become a law unto themselves. The police authorities must be zealously protected against all such incursions and attempts," he observed.

Lokendra had pleaded that he was not named in the initial FIR and his name added later during the investigation. Further, no weapon was recovered from him, he claimed.

Government advocate Vikas Sahai opposed the bail application, saying it is was a case where a police team was itself attacked by an unruly mob and Lokendra played a direct role in killing the inspector.

A special investigation team formed to probe the violence had booked several people, including local leaders belonging to the Bajrang Dal and the youth wing of the BJP.