The Uttar Pradesh police on late Wednesday night arrested Bajrang Dal's Bulandshahr district convenor Yogesh Raj, one of the main accused in the Bulandshahr riot case which occurred on December 3 last year.

According to the police, Yogesh was arrested from T-Point near Brahmanand College when Station House Officer (SHO) BB Nagar Subhash Singh got a tip off Wednesday night about Yogesh changing his location and moving towards Bulandshahr City from Khurja, about 15 kilometers away from the district headquarters. Singh rushed to the location with his team where they arrested Yogesh at 11.30 pm.

The Bajrang Dal district convenor has been booked for murder, rioting, armed with deadly weapon, sedition and assaulting a public servant to deter him from discharging his duty under sections 147, 148, 149, 124A, 332, 333, 353, 341, 336, 302, 427, 436, 395 of Indian Penal Code.
A first information report (FIR) is registered against Yogesh along with 27 others named and 50-60 unnamed in Syana police station on December 4 last. According to the police, Yogesh will be produced in the CJM court in Bulandshahr at 4 pm.

Though the Bulandshahr police are claiming Yogesh has been arrested after an official raid and didn’t surrender, top leader of Bajrang Dal is of a different opinion.

Bajrang Dal's Uttar Pradesh convenor Balraj Doonger, Yogesh was constantly in touch with the members of Bajrang Dal and top brass who helped him stay away from the clutches of the police.

“From the very first day, I have been saying this that Yogesh is a member of Bajrang Dal and we will try our best to get justice for him. He has been framed wrongly by the police and if he had surrendered earlier then Prashant Natt the guy who actually murdered the inspector Subodh Singh could have never been arrested,” Doonger said.

Talking about Yogesh’s where about since December 3, Doonger said, Yogesh went into hiding after the incident. He spent maximum time in Haridwar and then he was hiding at different places of Poorvanchal (Easter Uttar Pradesh). “For few days he was in Haridwar and later he went to the eastern part of the state hiding away from the police,” he added.

When asked about the people who were accompanying Yogesh all this while, Doonger refused to comment. However, he admitted that Yogesh was coming to Bulandshahr with an intention of surrender but the cops arrested him before he could do that.

“Earlier we were of the view that Yogesh should surrender but then we decided that the real culprit will never be caught if he had surrendered earlier. We asked him to surrender many times in the past but he was adamant of staying away from the police and later we understood this point when police changed the name of main accused for the third time as earlier they named Yogesh, then Jeetu Fauji and then Prashant Natt. The Bajarang Dal will always stand with Yogesh and get him acquitted from the court,” he added.

On December 27, the police had arrested Prashant Natt, who allegedly shot inspector Subodh Singh dead after the axe attack. Five people were arrested on December 18 for their alleged roles in the mob violence and the cow slaughter case.

Violence had erupted in Bulandshahr after cow carcasses were found in a field near Mahaw village in the district. The inspector and a youth had died during the violence. An FIR against 27 named people and 50 to 60 unidentified people was registered at the Siyana Police Station for the violence at the Chingrawathi Police Post.