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2018 Bulandshahr violence

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The 2018 Bulandshahr violence was an outbreak of mob violence on 3 December 2018 in the Syana area of Bulandshahr district, Uttar Pradesh, after residents alleged that cattle carcasses had been found in a field near Mahaw village. Police inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and a 20-year-old villager, Sumit Kumar, were killed, and the Chingrawathi police outpost was set on fire.[1][2] In 2025 a court in Bulandshahr convicted 38 people in the case and sentenced five of them to life imprisonment.[3]

Background

Subodh Kumar Singh was the station house officer of Syana. From 28 September to 9 November 2015 he had been the investigating officer in the case of the Lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq in Dadri, in which a man was killed over rumours that his family had slaughtered a calf and eaten beef. According to the Uttar Pradesh Police, the chargesheet in that case was later filed by a different investigating officer in March 2016.[1]

Incident

On the morning of 3 December 2018, police were deployed to Mahaw village at about 11 am after residents allegedly found the carcasses of a cow and a calf in a field. Villagers loaded a carcass onto a tractor and blocked the Bulandshahr–Garh highway in protest. The protest turned violent; police were pelted with stones and responded with a baton charge, and reinforcements were sent to the area.[1]

Inspector Singh, who had gone to the spot to restore order, was killed. Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Anand Kumar initially said he had been hit by a blunt object, "probably a stone", and had died in hospital, but the autopsy found that he had been shot near his left eyebrow. A local constable said a group attacked the personnel who were taking Singh to hospital and that the officers fled, leaving him behind.[1]

Sumit Kumar, a 20-year-old villager, was also shot and died after being taken to a hospital in Meerut. The district magistrate said police had opened fire in self-defence, while the Additional Director General said inquiries were under way to establish who had shot him. According to the Additional Director General for the Meerut zone, protesters set several vehicles and the Chingrawathi police outpost on fire after Sumit Kumar was shot.[1][2]

The Uttar Pradesh Police ordered a Special Investigation Team (SIT) inquiry on the day of the violence.[1] A first information report naming 27 people and 50 to 60 unidentified people was registered at Siyana police station, and by 19 December police said 19 people had been held over the violence, including a serving Army soldier.[2]

A separate cow slaughter complaint had been lodged by the Bajrang Dal's district convenor, who was himself later accused of leading the mob. On 19 December 2018 Senior Superintendent of Police Prabhakar Chaudhary said that four men arrested earlier in the cow slaughter case had been found innocent and that police would seek their release; three other men were arrested in that case.[2]

Sedition charges against 38 accused were dropped in March 2019. A local court released six accused on bail in August 2019, and on 25 September 2019 the Allahabad High Court granted bail to the Bajrang Dal convenor, described as one of the main accused.[4] Singh's wife, Rajni Singh, challenged that order, and in January 2022 a Supreme Court bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and M. M. Sundresh stayed the bail, directed the accused to surrender within seven days and asked the trial court how much time it needed to frame charges and record evidence. The court noted that the state government's counter affidavit described the case as mob lynching.[5]

In 2025 Additional District and Sessions Judge Gopal Ji found 38 accused guilty, and on 1 August 2025 he sentenced five of them to life imprisonment for murder and other offences under the Indian Penal Code. The remaining 33 were sentenced to seven years' imprisonment on charges including arson, damage to public property and attempted murder. The prosecution was led by Special Public Prosecutor Yashpal Singh Raghav.[3]

Reactions

Four days after the violence, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath described Singh's death as "an accident", rejected the description of the incident as mob lynching, and said that everyone responsible would be punished.[6] After meeting the Chief Minister, Sumit Kumar's family asked for martyr status and financial assistance equal to that given to Singh's family; the Chief Minister assured them that no injustice would be done.[2]

In September 2019 a video showed two accused who had been released on bail, one of them a local leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party's youth wing, being garlanded by supporters. Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said the government and the party had nothing to do with the garlanding, and Singh's son, Shrey Pratap Singh, called for the accused to be sent back to jail.[4]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Scroll Staff. "Bulandshahr violence: SIT inquiry ordered after two people, including a police inspector, are killed". Scroll.in. 3 December 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2026.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Bulandshahr: 4 Arrested For Cow Slaughter 'Innocent', 3 More Held". The Quint. 19 December 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2026.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 PTI. "38 convicted in 2018 Syana violence case lifer for five 7-year jail for rest". The Week (PTI). 1 August 2025. Retrieved 31 October 2026.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Scroll Staff. "Bulandshahr violence: Allahabad High Court grants bail to Yogesh Raj, one of the main accused". Scroll.in. 25 September 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2026.
  5. ↑ Scroll Staff. "2018 Bulandshahr violence: Supreme Court stays bail to Bajrang Dal member". Scroll.in. 4 January 2022. Retrieved 31 October 2026.
  6. ↑ The Wire Staff. "Breaking Silence on Bulandshar Cop's Killing, Adityanath Calls It an 'Accident'". The Wire. 7 December 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2026.
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