38 convicted, 5 of them held guilty of inspector’s murder

Nearly seven years after the December 3, 2018 communal violence in Bulandshahr, a local court on Wednesday convicted 38 people for their involvement in the incident, which led to the deaths of a police inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and a civilian, said special government counsel Yashpal Singh Raghav.

- Rohit Kumar Singh and Deepak Lavania

However, two key accused, including a local Bajrang Dal leader Yogesh Raj anda former Rashtriya Rifles jawan Jeetendra Malik alias Jeetu Fauji, who were initially accused as key conspirators in the case, have not been convicted under charges of murders of the inspector and the civilian. The court convicted the duo under charges of attempt to murder, rioting, other Indian Penal Code sections and 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment. The court will announce the sentences on August 1, Raghav said. Raghav said five accused were convicted under IPC Section 302 (murder) for the murders of the inspector and the civilian, while the remaining 33 have been found guilty of rioting, attempt to murder and various other charges. He said around 44 individuals including current district panchayat members and village head Yogesh Raj were named as accused.

Five of them have since died, and one minor was released earlier, he added. Meerut deputy inspector general (DIG) Kalanidhi Naithani said those convicted under murder charges were Prashant Nat, Rahul, David, Lokendra Singh and Johni I residents of Chingrawathi. He said the court found these five convicts specifically guilty of the murder of inspector Subodh Kumar Singh.