Four top leaders of the right-wing Bharat Hindu Mahasabha outfit have been arrested by the police for their alleged role in a purported plot to trigger communal violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Agra by slaughtering cows on the occasion of Ram Navami.
The names of the Hindutva outfit’s top office bearers had surfaced during the questioning of two suspects—Nakeem and Rizwan—who were arrested by the police for allegedly slaughtering a cow on Ram Navami in Gautam Nagar of Etmaduddaula area.
According to the police, the two Muslim men revealed that they were asked to kill cows in the area by top Hindu Mahasabha leaders Sanjay Jat, Saurabh Sharma, Jitendra Kushwaha and Brajesh Bhadauria.
A senior police officer said that while Nakeem and his accomplices carried out the cow slaughter, but the act was part of a conspiracy by the Hindu Mahasabha top brass to stoke communal tensions in Agra, adding that the four men have been arrested and booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Assistant Commissioner of Police, R K Singh, said that Jat is currently out on bail after being arrested on February 22 in a similar case. Jat is currently named in more than a dozen cases, he said.
The top cop said that Jitendra Kushwaha has eight cases against him while Brajesh Bhadauria and Saurabh Sharma are accused in two and five cases, respectively.
Last week, an India Today report quoting a senior police officer had said that four accused arrested in a raid during Ram Navami celebrations in Gautam Nagar area of Agra’s Etmaduddaula, adding that investigation has revealed names of several office bearers of Bharat Hindu Mahasabha who were allegedly involved in the cow slaughter plot to incite communal violence.
The report, quoting information provided by the Uttar Pradesh Police, revealed that Hindu Mahasabha national spokesperson Sanjay Jat has emerged as being the main conspirator behind the plot, besides several other workers of the right-wing Hindutva group.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Suraj Rai said that based on a complaint by Hindu Mahasabha’s Jitendra Kushwaha, an FIR regarding cow slaughter was registered at Agra’s Etmaduddaula police station and two accused, identified as Imran alias Thakur and Shanu, who were named in the FIR, were arrested by the cops.
The senior officer said that during investigation, many revelations were made such as the claim made by one of the arrested men, Shanu, that Jitendra Kushwaha had allegedly knew about the Hindutva outfit’s plot to disrupt communal harmony on Ram Navami by ordering slaughter of cows by its workers and henchmen.
Giving details, the officer said that Shanu told the police that on March 29, he found Imran, Salman and Sairo at Mehtab Bagh and together they slaughtered a cow roaming there at around 8 pm. The detained man said he and Imran, the other person named in the FIR, then informed Kushwaha about the incident.