The facts of the matter may make it appear like a routine police action going horribly wrong. A police party led by SHO Subodh Kumar Singh tried to clear the highway blocked by about 1,000 people, mostly locals, demanding action against those responsible for cow slaughter in Chingravati village in Siyana subdivision of the district of Bulandshahr. There are many versions by overzealous locals, and the version of the cops, as to what transpired on December 3 that led to the killing of SHO Subodh Kumar Singh and a 20-year-old local student, Sumit Kumar, who just happened to be there at the wrong time.

The mob claimed it was reacting to—though there is no way to confirm whether it actually happened—carcasses of cows recovered strewn in the agricultural fields. This seems unlikely, as the village of Chingravati is dominated by Jats and Muslims are a minority. The official version is that the SHO tried to pacify a belligerent crowd, resulting in a scuffle. A lathi charge ensued, followed by the mob resorting to stone-pelting. Firing was inevitable to deal with the riotous crowd.

A video taken by one of those present shows Sumit being escorted through the agriculture field from the highway, shot in the chest. A policeman trails behind at a distance along the red wall of adjoining Dilawari Devi Kisan Kanya college. Locals use this video to show it was the police bullet that killed Sumit. The SHO was the target of the wrath of the crowd. The SHO chased some of the miscreants into the agriculture fields along the highway. After Sumit was shot, the crowd went berserk and beat up the SHO with blunt objects next to a brick drain that ran across the field, some 50 meters away from the highway.

It’s uncertain who killed the SHO. But what’s certain is that both he and Sumit were killed by bullets fired from the same gun—0.3 bore bullets. These bullets were not fired from the official weapon allotted to the SHO, but his own licensed revolver. In all likelihood, miscreants overpowered the SHO and shot him with his own gun. He was hit above the left eye from a short range.

Another video shows the SHO’s vehicle parked in the middle of a farm, his body hanging out from the back seat. This was after the police party tried to rescue him after he was roughed up by the crowd. The mob attacked the vehicle and his driver and other policemen. That vehicle stayed put and was set ablaze by the mob at that very spot. The mob went amok and resulted in clashes that left many injured. An inspector is stated to be critical.

This is not the first time that such a case has been reported from the region in recent times. They particularly seem to occur during festivities, like Navratri and Dussehra. When the clashes broke out on December 3, it was the last day of the three-day Tablighi Ijtema where an estimated 10 lakh Muslim pilgrims had congregated in Dariyapur village of Bulanshahr. The roads were crowded, traffic was slow, trains were overladen despite special arrangements by the Railways. The city was reeling under pressure and the locals were not happy.

There’s a seething anger within the establishment, and the police have swung into action. They’ve since filed an FIR naming 27 people, out of which five have already been arrested. One of the main accused, Yogesh Raj, the district convenor of the Bajrang Dal in Bulandshahr, is still at large. The Bajrang Dal has asked him to surrender while maintaining that he’s innocent.

Two people killed in clashes is nothing extraordinary in India. This particular case is an exception; it’s become a nationwide flashpoint. The Delhi media is present in large numbers in the village and the district headquarters at Bulandshahr, some 35 kilometres away from where the clashes broke out.

Cow vigilantism has resulted in many deaths of innocents in various parts of the country, mostly in BJP-ruled states, and most of the victims in this slew of attacks have been Muslims. Human rights activists have been pointing out that elements have been operating with impunity to the point that they almost seem like a co-accomplice with the establishment. They accuse the government of not doing enough to curb the menace.

But what happened in Siyana is significant, serious and worrisome, with deeper ramifications, not just because general elections are around the corner. The mob fury was not just directed against private parties or minorities, but against the state itself. It is for the first time that a police officer has been targeted and killed.

The BJP version

There are two versions of what happened in Bulandshahr. One: that the whole episode was an orchestrated act of Hindu fanatic organisations like the Bajrang Dal to create a fear psychosis amongst the minorities before the elections. The other, and quite in contrast to the first, is that it’s the police to be blamed for this mess: it’s their high-handedness that led to the clashes. “Had the police not targeted peaceful demonstrators, and listened to their demand and acted upon it, against those involved in the cow slaughter—the term used in this part of the country is gaukhushi—things would have been just fine,” explains Dr Bhola Singh, the BJP MP from Bulandshahr.

Lakshmiraj Singh is a senior local BJP leader who has held the position of district head of the party in the past. He is a burly fellow, sporting a thick ponytail that ends in a knot, and hangs loosely from behind his head. He’s articulate, text-savvy, and is certain that the police and district administration are responsible for this mess.

He gives his perspective to what happened: Many more Muslims were allowed in the city for Tablighi Ijtema, despite the sanctioned strength being two lakh people. He explains in Hindi that the district administration had no problem when the number of Muslims swelled way beyond the permissible limits. But they seem to have a problem when 1,000 men were protesting against cow slaughter, which is a crime. Instead of nabbing the culprits—the killers of the cows—the police employed force against the protestors. He says remains of slaughtered cows have also been found in the adjoining cities of Khurja and Jahangirabad. “Has anybody bothered to know from where the meat was procured to feed lakhs of Muslims present in the city?” Lakshmiraj Singh asks, his eyes glittering.

Bhola Singh also minces no words to condemn the police action. He emphasises that the killing of the SHO and the youth is sad and deplorable, but holds the district administration and police responsible for what happened. Demonstration is no crime, he asserts. Referring to the police account of what happened, he says, “As per the FIR, they say 27 people killed one man. So 27 people fired one bullet at one man? Why and how would 27 people end up killing one man?”

Referring to Tablighi Ijtema, he says in Hindi, “I feel the district administration is keeping the government in the dark. There are questions to be answered: who gave the crowd permission to assemble? Why were schools ordered to be closed? They imposed a near curfew. That city is in a deplorable state. Isn’t it the administration’s mistake? Those guilty within the administration should be punished. I feel that the police is trying to cover up their own mistakes.” He adds, “It was the police bullets that killed the two. Farmers have no firearms.”

Dr Singh along with all seven MLAs of the district plan to meet Yogi Adityanath and make him aware of what they think is the ground reality of the situation.

Death of a policeman

SHO Subodh Kumar Singh, the son of a policeman, is being portrayed as a national hero. His last rites were performed in a manner befitting a martyr, with top police officials of the state present, included ADG Meerut Zone Prashant Kumar. Survived by his wife, Rajni, and two children, Shrey and Abhishek, his family has demanded a CBI inquiry into his killing.

He was an officer with a controversial past. Singh was one of the investigating officers in the murder of Mohammad Akhlaq, who was lynched by a crowd over a rumour of beef consumption in Aligarh. Subsequently, Subodh Kumar Singh was shifted out of the case. However, his superiors admired him for his daredevil approach.

Dr Bhola Singh, the BJP MP, however, has other claims. Unlike his party’s policy of honouring a martyr, he had something scathing to reveal about the slain SHO. On September 9, nearly three months ago, the BJP MP says he received a complaint from locals of Siyana that cow slaughter was made possible with the active connivance of SHO Subhod Kumar Singh. He had forwarded a written complaint to the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Bulandshahr. The MP took a picture of the complaint and tagged the SSP’s Twitter account. “No action was taken,” Bhola Singh says. Lakshmiraj Singh confirms his story.

One thing clearly emerges from this conversation: the local BJP is not happy with the district administration, and particularly with SHO Subodh Kumar. Could there be a reason, therefore, why the mob targeted this particular police officer? The police is looking at the mob fury as a premeditated, planned act and is looking out for the Bajrang Dal functionary Yogesh Raj.

Meanwhile, top officials, including the ADG of Police-Intelligence, SD Shirdakar, are camping out in the city. They plan to leave no stone unturned in their investigation. “We have orders to nab the culprits, whoever they are,” says a top official posted in Bulandshahr. The police have constituted 12 teams that have already raided more than 50 locations to nab the culprits. A family member of Yogesh Raj has complained that the police ransacked their house. State VHP leader, Sudarshan, has accused the police of maligning their image and even accused the police of allowing cow slaughter to take place under their nose.

The local BJP cadres, led by Dr Bhola Singh, have reportedly had a strained relationship with the district administration for quite some time. In the recent past, the local MP led a protest and demolished a wall near the district magistrate’s residence. The wall had allegedly blocked an access road for the common people. The district magistrate, Anuj Kumar Jha, promptly ordered an FIR to be registered against the MP and his supporters and the wall was rebuilt overnight, says Lakshmiraj Singh.

“We will request an unbiased investigation by the Special Task Force (SIT). And the guilty should not be spared,” Bhola Singh says, and this includes the functionaries of the district administration. “There’s a concerted effort to by the police to malign the image of the party.”

Lakshmiraj Singh says the government is dominated by bureaucrats and the party’s influence is dwindling. He reasons that this might be because the BJP is not used to governing in the state, after a long haul as an opposition party.

A senior police officer sent from Lucknow insists that the situation is under control and has normalised since he arrived 24 hours ago. He explains that the actual number of cow slaughter cases has gone down across the state, and it’s more of a rarity now than a norm. “There was a tacit agreement between the two communities earlier, and those who would object in public looked the other way. There’s a big leather industry in Uttar Pradesh, after all. Now, though, much fewer cows are being slaughtered, very secretively. So each and every such incident that gets known becomes an issue.”

This is an ideal case where the interests of governance and the governing party are not in consonance. The bureaucracy seems to be doing its business and is not compliant with the whims of local BJP leaders. The question remains, how long will the government resist party concerns, given the elections are coming up?

The aftermath of tension

Two days after the unrest, Kala Aam Chauraha in Bulanshahr bears a deserted look. The Rapid Action Force, in their blue camouflage uniforms, stand vigil. A white “riot control vehicle” is parked next to police post, looking like a white elephant waiting to charge at the slightest provocation. The traffic has thinned and the city is tense. The overwhelming presence of security forces is disconcerting. “You need an infrastructure of terror to maintain peace,” jokes a senior police officer. A cloud of dust hangs low as the sun sets.

There is a police booth on one side of the chauraha or crossing. A Mazar is adjacent to it, where one man sits listlessly on a chair. There are no visitors. He soon gets up, locks the iron-mesh door and leaves, looking down contemplatively at the dusty road as he fades away into the darkness.

Chaudhari Hotel, famous for its cheap homemade food, is doing brisk business as usual. Some of the security personnel are having a late meal. Four armed men are sitting quietly on a table, enjoying aloo parathas. They identify themselves as farmers and say they are here to support the government. Constabulary deployed around the crossing engage in conversation. They have had a long day. They are angry since one of them has been killed.

A shop owned by a Muslim family, refusing to identify themselves, serves chicken burgers amongst other things to customers. They don’t want to talk about the recent violence. “I have to live here and die here,” the owner says, sitting across the counter, “I don’t want to antagonise or praise anyone.”

There’s a palatable sense of fear. Abdul, who runs a tea stall, wearing an oversized pullover and tattered trousers, is more vocal. “What do you want me to say? Are Muslims out of their mind to kill a cow? We have to live here. Where will we go?”