Bulandshahr violence: 10 and 12-year-olds named in FIR for cow slaughter

Of the seven people from Naya Bans named in a first information report on cow slaughter related to the mob violence here, two are pre-teens, one does not stay in the village and a fourth was away at a Muslim congregation 40 kilometres away, angry villagers said on Wednesday.

The FIR is based on a complaint filed by Bajrang Dal's district convenor Yogesh Raj, the main accused in the violence that broke out on Monday after cow carcasses were found strewn in a jungle, killing a police inspector and a 20-year-old man, police officials said.

Raj has been absconding since Monday.

Police is investigating the violence that led to Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and Sumit Kumar dying of gunshot injuries on the basis of two FIRs -- one on cow slaughter and the other on violence.

Naya Bans village, less than three kilometres from Chingrawati where the violence took place, is the focal point of the cow slaughter FIR. All seven named are from the village and all are Muslims.

According to the villagers, a 10-year-old Class 5 student and a 12-year-old Class 6 student are on the list.

The two, who can't be identified because of their minor status, are cousins.

"Their names should be removed from the FIR which accuses them of cow slaughter. Just look at them," said the father of the Class 5 student, pointing to the children.

The 42-year-old, who lost his right foot during a motorcycle accident six years ago, said the children stay at home.

"I was summoned to the police station in Siyana on Tuesday. I was told the names (of the children) are in the FIR. I was made to wait for three hours and told that 'kaptan saahab' (local police chief) would enquire about something. But nothing happened and I returned home," he said.

The mother of the Class 6 student said police reached her home at 2.15 am on Tuesday and started conducting a check at that unearthly hour. They were not sure of the name of her son and kept looking for a 'Shehzaad' and 'Qasim', she said.

"They left at 2.30 am before leaving everything in the house messed up," she claimed, adding that they kept asking where she was hiding him. Her husband lives and works in Delhi.

Tempers were running high in the village with residents disputing two other names. One was not a resident of the village and the other was working in the Ijtima (Muslim congregation) about 40 km away.

Mohammad Hussain said his brother Safruddin, 36, was wrongly named in the FIR.

"Several people from Naya Bans, including Safruddin, went for the Ijtima. He was there from November 29 and returned yesterday.

"He was given the task of managing parking at the Ijtima," Hussain said, showing an Ijtima management slip that named Safruddin as a parking official.

Safruddin, who works as a cloth trader in Siyana near Naya Bans, has three children -- a 14-year-old daughter and two sons, 12 and 8.

As his brother was being questioned by police, Hussain waited patiently outside the police station for him.

The fourth name being disputed is that of Sudaif Chaudhary. Queries during a visit to the village yielded no result. Locals said nobody by that name lives in the village.

"This (the allegations over wrong names in FIR) is part of analysis and verification," Superintendent of Police, City, Pravin Ranjan Singh told reporters.

Officials said the cow slaughter complaint was filed at 1 pm on Monday on a complaint by Raj, about two hours after the violence broke out.

Raj, who was named as the main accused in the second FIR filed around 2.30 am Tuesday, has been on the run since Monday, officials said.