Arrested BJP leader's son told priest to announce Mohamad Akhlaq had slaughtered a cow: Dadri police

Uttar Pradesh police on Saturday arrested two persons, including the son of a BJP leader, for their alleged role in the killing of Mohamad Akhlaq, who was beaten to death by a mob that suspected him of slaughtering a cow and storing its meat at his residence.

According to police, the BJP leader's son, identified as Vishal Rana, was also among the persons who had told the temple priest to make the announcement asking Hindu villagers to gather outside Akhlaq's residence. His father, Sanjay Rana is the main liaison between the BJP and residents of Dadri area's Bisara village. It also came to fore that Sanjay was given a ticket by the BJP to contest the 2015 district panchayat elections in Noida, which were postponed by the State Election Commission in September.

The duo was arrested by a team of police officials lead by Subodh Kumar, SHO Jarcha, who said the accused were found hiding in a neighbouring village. Police said that during questioning it has emerged that Vishal had told the priest that Akhlaq had wrapped body parts of a calf in a polythene bag and thrown it away on to the street.

"The interrogation is currently underway and it has emerged that the accused had told the priest to make the announcement. We are further ascertaining whether he had led the mob that actually killed Akhlaq and injured his son Danish," said the Gautam Buddha Nagar senior superintendent of police (SSP) Kiran S.

When asked the area in which the police arrested the duo, the SSP said, "At the moment we cannot reveal the village where they had been hiding. This might interfere in our investigation as there are others who are still absconding. Investigators do not wish to tip them off as they might change their location".

Elaborating on the profile of Sanjay Rana, another senior police officer posted in Dadri said the BJP leader had been the 'main man' of BJP during the campaigning phase of the 2014 general elections. The officer attributed this to the correspondence between Rana and police authorities which often took place while seeking permission for political rallies. According to other official sources, Rana had mobilised voters and even organised rallies for local BJP leaders.

Vishal's name was among those named in the FIR as recognised by the victim's family. Police initially did not delve much into the possibility of the accused having political ties. However, questioning of those already detained shed more light into the role of Vishal.

Investigators told dna that local intelligence had been trailing Vishal since Tuesday morning but he had not surfaced until Saturday. "We got inputs that he was spotted in a neighbouring village. He is a known face in the area," said a senior police office.

Laxmi Kant Bajpai, BJP state chief, while reacting to the arrest initially said "Every Hindu who gets arrested does not become a part of the BJP". When asked whether the arrested accused is son of a BJP leader, Bajpai said, "There are no leaders in BJP. We are all workers. But the matter was under investigation and if found guilty the accused must be punished, irrespective of their caste or religion."

The development might further escalate the war of words which had been set off between the BJP and its opposition. The Samajwadi Party as well as AIMIM leader Asadudin Owaisi had accused BJP of inciting violence even while the latter, calling the incident an 'accident', accused the opposition of giving communal colour to the incident.