Bulandshahr Violence: Armyman Jitendra Malik accused of UP cop's murder sent to 14-day judicial custody

Jeetu Fauji was handed over to Meerut Special Task Force by Army on Saturday midnight. On Sunday he was produced before the judicial magistrate, who sent him to the custody.

Image: ANI

New Delhi: Armyman Jitendra Malik also known as 'Jeetu Fauji', who has been accused of killing Uttar Pradesh inspector Subodh Kumar Singh during mob violence in Bulandshahr has been sent to a 14-day judicial custody. Jeetu Fauji was handed over to Meerut Special Task Force by Army on Saturday midnight. On Sunday he was produced before the judicial magistrate, who sent him to the custody. He was interrogated by the crime branch during the day and was also quizzed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by UP government to probe the incident. A medical examination was also conducted at the district hospital. Though Fauji had claimed innocence, his presence at the murder site in the footages that have surfaced, add to the police’s doubts on him. Jitendra Malik was posted in Jammu and Kashmir's Sopore. News agency ANI quoted Fauji as saying: “I am not an absconder. I haven't done anything wrong. I am being framed.” Senior Superintendent of Police Abhishek Singh of the STF Meerut informed that Jitendra has accepted he was there when the crowd started gathering. “It's not yet ascertained if he is the one who shot Inspector or Sumit. He said he went there with villagers, but denied pelting stones on police”, Singh was quoted as saying. On December 3,  a massive mob of about 4000 people went berserk in Bulandhshahr following reports of cow carcasses being found in a nearby jungle. The crowd started firing and pelting stones at the police, in which Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and another 20-year-old youth named Sumit died of bullet injury. Singh and his team had gone to the area to tackle the violence when they came under attack by the mob. Earlier today, the UP government transferred Raees Akhtar, who was posted as additional superintendent of police (rural) in Bulandshahr, six days after the mob violence.