Murdered Bulandhshahr cop Subodh Kumar Singh's mobile recovered from house of accused

In a breakthrough in the murder of Bulandshahr police inspector Subodh Kumar Singh during the December 3 violence over the alleged cow slaughter in the area, the Uttar Pradesh police has recovered his mobile phone reportedly from the house of the accused. Singh was allegedly killed by the mob who had gathered in the are to protest against the 'cow slaughter' after recovered of cow carcasses in a field.

Singh, who was the incharge of the Shyana police station, had gone there to calm down the protesters who resorted to stone pelting stones and damaged the public property. However, someone from the crowd hit Singh on the head and he fell down on the ground. While the constables accompanying Singh were taking him to the hospital, the mob again attacked their vehicle. While the policemen with him fled the scene, Singh was shot dead at a point-blank range above his eye.

A cellphone video showed Singh's limp body in his car, its windscreen shattered and doors open. As gunshots rang out, a mob ran amok, shouting "goli maro" (shoot him). The post-mortem report also confirmed that Singh died of bullet injuries. The mob also took away his service gun and mobile phone.

But the recovery of his phone is seen as a big breakthrough as it would be presented as key evidence in the case. Recently, Uttar Pradesh police have arrested a man who had allegedly attacked Bulandshahr cop Subodh Kumar Singh with an axe during the December 3 violence. 

The accused, Kalua, was arrested from a bus stand and has reportedly accepted his crime. He told investigators that during the violence that broke out on December 3, he was felling a tree to block a road. When inspector Subodh tried to stop him, he attacked the cop with an axe on his head. With his arrest, the total number of accused held in the case went up to 30, a police officer said.

Earlier in December last year, the police had arrested the accused who allegedly shot Singh during the Bulandshahr violence. Senior Superintendent of Police Prabhakar Chaudhary said that the accused identified as Prashant Nutt has confessed to his crime during the interrogation.