LUCKNOW: In a big revelation, the Agra Police, on Saturday, claimed that a few members of Bharat Hindu Mahasabha (BHM) slaughtered cows themselves to vitiate the atmosphere and incite communal violence in the city of Taj during Ram Navami celebration on March 30.
Agra Police had even arrested two youths accused of cow slaughter on the occasion of Ram Navami. The youths were arrested after a raid during Ram Navami celebrations from Etmaduddaula area of Gautam Nagar in Agra. Search was on for others involved in the conspiracy.
According to police sources, the name Sanjay Jat, Hindu Mahasabha’s national spokesperson, had come up as the main conspirator. He hatched a conspiracy with some BHM workers and persons from minority community to frame his rivals who were later named in the FIR lodged by Jitendra Kushwaha also of BHM.
As per the senior police officials, Sanjay Jat along with 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. Kushwaha lodged the FIR at Etmaduddaula police station on the Ram Navmi day.
After the investigation, Agra police claimed it to be a sordid tale of mutual rivalry. An inquiry suggests that Sanjay had an enmity with some people named in the FIR and wanted to implicate them in the case, said the police sources. Kushwaha even gheraoed the police station twice seeking arrest of the persons named
in the FIR.
According to Agra DCP Suraj Rai, the investigation showed that the persons named in the FIR had nothing to do with cow slaughter.
Meanwhile, two persons – Imran Qureshi alias Thakur of Sayyadpada in Alamganj area and Shanu—were arrested by the police in connection with the case.
As per the police sources, Shanu divulged to the police officials that he reached Mehtab Bagh at 8 pm on March 29 and found Imran, Salman, and Sairo there. They decided to kill a cow roaming there. However, Shanu and Imran informed Jitendra Kushwaha about this and named Sanjay Jat to be behind it.
However, some Hindu Mahasabha workers complained against both Jitendra Kushwaha and Sanjay Jat saying they themselves were getting the cow slaughtered to spoil the communal harmony of Agra on Ram Navami.
On the other hand, Sanjay Jat told the media persons that he was being deliberately trapped by some BHM office bearers and the entire episode should be investigated by CBCID.
Sanjay was arrested in February in an extortion case. The police had said he and his associates often stopped vehicles transporting beef and extorted money by threatening to lodge police cases. He is out on bail.