Uttar Pradesh Police on Saturday stated that some members of the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha butchered cows in order to instigate communal violence during the Ram Navami parade in Agra.
On the eve of Ram Navami, Agra Police arrested four youngsters suspected of cow killing. During a raid during Ram Navami celebrations in Gautam Nagar in the Etmaduddaula region of Agra, the youngsters were apprehended.
According to the police, Sanjay Jat, the Hindu Mahasabha’s national spokesperson, is the chief conspirator. Many others are also reported to be part of the plot. A man named Jitendra Kushwaha reported the cow slaughter at Etmaduddaula police station.
According to DCP Suraj Rai, several facts came to light during the police inquiry. The police arrested two people identified in the FIR: Imran alias Thakur and Shanu.
Shanu informed police that he arrived at Mehtab Bagh at 8 p.m. on March 29 and encountered Imran, Salman, and Sairo. They then decided to slaughter a cow that was wandering about in the street. That’s when Shanu and Imran went to inform Jitendra Kushwaha.
“(Mahasabha leader) Sanjay Jat is the main conspirator. His followers and friends slaughtered a cow in the Mehtab Bagh area on the night of March 29 and told party member Jitendra Kushwaha to file a case against Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Nakim and Mohammad Shanu. The police arrested Imran Qureshi, a fourth suspect, and Shanu the next day. Later, the investigation revealed that the named accused had nothing to do with the crime. An inquiry suggests that Sanjay had an enmity with some people and wanted to implicate them in the case,” The Telegraph quoted R.K. Singh, additional commissioner of police of the Chatta area of Agra, as saying.
“The cow was slaughtered on the eve of Ram Navami to disturb social harmony. We had unconfirmed reports about such an incident but got conclusive evidence when they tried to implicate some innocent people,” another cop said.
Some Hindu Mahasabha workers complained about Jitendra Kushwaha and Sanjay Jat, claiming that they personally had the cow slain in order to disrupt Agra’s communal peace on Ram Navami.
