The Bulandshahr administration finally invoked National Security Act (NSA) against three accused arrested in connection with the alleged cow slaughtering incident in Siyana tehsil of the district in the beginning of last month.
After cattle carcasses were found strewn in the fields outside village Mahaw in Siyana tehsil of Bulandshahr on December 3 last year, a mob went on the rampage, attacking the local Chingrawathi police post and a police inspector and a youth were killed in the violence.
The Bulandshahr administration on Monday confirmed that NSA was evoked against Nadeem, Mahboob Ali and Azhar, all arrested for their involvement in cow slaughtering.
All the three are under judicial custody and sections of NSA have been added in the FIR lodged under Section 295 of the Indian Penal Code and sections 3/5/8 of Cow Slaughter Prevention Act.
“The three accused had applied for bail and there was a chance of their getting the bail. Keeping that in mind, the National Security Act has been invoked against them,” District Magistrate Anuj Jha said.
“To maintain public order and amity, the three have been charged under Section 3 sub-section 3 of the NSA. The action has been taken based on a police report which stated that the trio indulged in cow slaughtering for earning money illegally,” Jha added.
“Their acts have hurt the sentiments of Hindus in Mahaw and Nayabans villages after which the violence broke out in which people attacked the police with sticks and axe, among others, and Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh was killed. This had disturbed public order and communal harmony,” Jha said in a statement.
The district magistrate further said that if the trio was released on bail, they might tamper with evidence or engage in cow slaughter again which will disrupt public order.
Two separate FIRs — one for the violence in which nearly 80 people including 27 named, and the other for cow slaughter — were registered at the Siyana police station. So far seven people have been arrested in the cow slaughter case, officials said, adding that three of them — Azhar Khan, Nadeem Khan, Mehboob Ali — were charged under the NSA.