The Supreme Court has also sought information from the trial court in Bulandshahr
The Supreme Court today stayed the Allahabad High Court order that granted bail to those accused in a 2018 case of lynching a police officer in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr.
In 2018, Bulandshahr Station House Officer (SHO) Subodh Kumar Singh was attacked by a mob of some 400 people when he went to restore calm in the area after violence erupted over rumours of illegal cow slaughter.
The police said a man armed with an axe chopped off two of his fingers and hit the policemen on the head. Others shot him. His body was found inside his official police vehicle, abandoned in a field.
"The matter is quite serious where under the pretext of cow slaughter, a police officer has been lynched. Prima facie, it is a case of people taking law into their own hand. We are of the view that Yogesh Raj should be asked to surrender within a period of seven days from today and thus to that extent, the impugned orders granting him bail are stayed," read the Supreme Court order.
The Supreme Court has also sought information from the trial court in Bulandshahr about how much time it will take to frame charges in the case and record the testimony of independent witnesses.
"We call for a report from the trial Court, Bulandshahr, as to how much time do they need to frame the charges and to record the testimonies of the independent witnesses," the top court added.
Yogesh Raj, convenor of Bajrang Dal Sayana unit, and Shikhar Agarwal, former president of BJP's youth wing in Sayana, along with several others, were granted bail by the Allahabad High Court in December last year.
The dead cop's wife had moved the top court in December last year, stating that the police were "dragging their feet" over the incident.