Lucknow, January 14: On the orders of district magistrate Anuj Jha, the Uttar Pradesh police has slapped the stringent provisions of the National Security Act (NSA) against 3 men arrested for alleged cow slaughter in Bulandshahr district last month. The recovery of cow carcasses in Syana town of the district had triggered the mob violence which claimed the lives of a policeman and a local youth.

Those arrested on the charge of slaughtering a cow on December 2 midnight, have been identified as: Azhar Khan, Nadeem Khan and Mehboob Ali of Syana town. Bulandshahr Violence Key Accused Yogesh Raj Features in Bajrang Dal, VHP Posters Greeting UP Residents Ahead of Republic Day.

An official privy to the probe told reporters that the trio have "confessed" to their crime. However, his claim could not be confirmed. The set of accused is different from the seven named by Bajrang Dal leader Yogesh Raj in his complaint to the police a day before the mob violence.

Yogesh, who is charged as the key accused in the violence in which inspector Subodh Kumar Singh was killed, is currently under police custody. He was arrested on January 3 -- nearly a month after evading arrest.

In the period when the police was not able to apprehend him, Yogesh released videos from his hideout, blaming the Muslims who had gathered for ijtema in Bulandshahr for instigating the violence.

Questioning the delay in his arrest, the Opposition accused the Yogi Adityanath-led government of "going slow" against the workers of Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad accused of being involved in the violence.

The accusations were reiterated when the Chief Minister, in one of his meetings with the top police officials on the Bulandshahr incident, reportedly laid more emphasis on cracking down on those behind the cow slaughter.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 14, 2019 07:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).