Bajrang Dal’s Praveen Bhati said on Thursday, 3 January, that the main accused in the Bulandshahr violence case, Yogesh Bhati, was “innocent” and that the outfit will “provide him with legal assistance,” news agency ANI reported.
Raj, a Bajrang Dal leader, is one of the main accused in a case related to mob violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr district on 3 December. Police Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and a civilian were killed in the violence after clashes over rumours of alleged cow slaughter.
Bhati, the outfit’s western Uttar Pradesh region co-convenor, told ANI:
“He is innocent. We’ll provide him legal assistance. We will do whatever is good for him. We’ll present everything before the court and we are sure he will be acquitted of all the charges.”Praveen Bhati, Bajrang Dal leader
Previously, Bhati had appealed to Raj to surrender and join the police probe, assuring the organisation's support to him.
According to PTI, the Bajrang Dal had also demanded that a "bigger agency like the CBI" should probe the matter.
Raj, local convenor of Bajrang Dal, was on the run after violence broke out in Siyana tehsil of the district in December 2018.
According to PTI, he was arrested around 11.30 pm on Wednesday, 2 January, from the Khurja T-point on National Highway 91.
Senior Superintendent of Police P Chaudhary had said that Raj was being questioned and that his statements will be recorded and presented before court.
“Inputs from intelligence was being collected. He has been arrested on basis of all the information we have. Questioning underway. His statements are being recorded, it’ll be presented before court.”P Chaudhary, SSP
The Bajrang Dal leader had claimed innocence in a video that had surfaced two days after the Bulandshahr violence. In the video, he was heard saying that he was not involved in the stone-pelting and firing incidents at the Chingrawati police chowki in Bulandshahr after alleged cow slaughter at a nearby village.
However, Raj’s statements in the purported video were contrary to what he had stated in a complaint for cow slaughter, based on which an FIR was registered against seven people, including two minors, of Nayabans village in Uttar Pradesh.
Raj's arrest comes after the UP Police arrested a man named Prashant Natt on the charges of shooting at Inspector Singh. Another man identified as Kalua was arrested by the police on 1 January for allegedly attacking the inspector with an axe.
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