Meerut: Yogesh Raj, the district convenor of Bajrang Dal and a key accused in the mob violence in Bulandshahr in which a police inspector and a protester were killed, was arrested on Wednesday night. His named figures on the top of the 27 people named as accused in the FIR lodged after the violence. ADG police (Meerut zone) Prashant Kumar told TOI, “Bulandshahr police arrested Yogesh after a tip-off that he was moving from Khurja to Bulandshahr city. He is being questioned.” Yogesh had been on the run since the violence broke out on December 3 after alleged cow slaughter in a village near Chingrawati police post under Syana police station.With Yogesh’s arrest, the number of accused held in connection with the violence has gone up to 32. Meanwhile, Bajrang Dal’s west UP Convenor Balraj Dungar said: "Yogesh Raj is our activist and we stand by him. We have full confidence in the investigation process of the SIT in Bulandshahr violence. We are confident that once investigation is complete, Yogesh Raj will be exonerated of all charges.”Dungar added, “And if need arises, we will employ all resources to engage best lawyers for him."In all, 32 persons accused in the violence have been arrested till Wednesday afternoon. Police heaved a sigh of relief after Yogesh’s arrest as the department was being accused of adopting casual approach towardss arresting Hindu right wing leaders accused in the case. BJP youth wing leader Shikhar Agarwal, who is still absconding, recently claimed his innocence in a video message.However, police did not reveal whether Yogesh Raj would be treated as instigator of violence or murder of the cop. “As of now, he was one of the absconding accused and has been arrested. Investigations are still on though we know the details of violence by and large and it will be decided in which crime he will be charged,” Bulandshahr SSP Prabhakar Chaudhary said.Meanwhile, Pratap Singh, the brother of the slain SI Subodh Kumar Singh said: “We have little to say in the arrest of Yogesh Raj as there has been too many new characters introduced within the month-long investigation process. Our only demand is that the real culprit who killed our family member should be punished.”Although Yogesh Raj claimed his innocence in the video message that he uploaded on social media before his arrest, his online profile presents him as a hardline. “The Syana unit of Bajrang Dal caught a cow killer who had slaughtered seven cows in the past. We beat him up brutally,” says one of his tweets. In August 2018, three days before Eid, Yogesh had tweeted: “The festival will be ruined if there is a cow slaughter. Keep that in mind.”

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