New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday warned it will not allow law and order to be disturbed a day after cow vigilantes killed a police officer and attacked a police station in Bulandshahr.
“This is an unfortunate incident and two people including an inspector were killed. The state government will not allow anyone to disturb the law and order situation and people guilty will be punished,” said state power minister Srikanth Sharma.
“The state government is with the family of the policeman and nobody will be spared. No individual or organization will be allowed to take law in their own hands. The government has formed a SIT (special investigation team), which will submit its report on Wednesday. This report will help take further action against the accused. The police has been asked to ensure that no such incident gets repeated,” said Sidharth Nath Singh, health minister and spokesperson of the state government.
State police on Tuesday arrested four suspects and said that a hunt was on for an alleged member of the Bajrang Dal.
The incident is a major setback to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), especially with chief minister Yogi Adityanath campaigning in election-bound states.
Adityanath held a late evening meeting, even as the state government drew flak from opposition Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati and the Congress, among others, over the deteriorating law and order situation.
A mob of nearly 400 people, including right-wing activists, clashed with police in Siana area of Bulandshahr on Monday, allegedly after the discovery of cow carcasses in a nearby jungle. Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, who had been probing the 2015 Akhlaq lynching case before he was reassigned, was killed and several vehicles were set on fire. A civilian, Sumit, also lost his life in the violence.
PTI contributed to this story