The Uttar Pradesh Police on Saturday arrested a person who they claimed is the prime suspect in the cow slaughter case that had led to violence in Bulandshahr district on December 3. A police inspector and a civilian were killed in the violence.

The accused has been identified as Haroon Khan, and he was arrested from Siyana region in Bulandshahr. The police recovered a licensed gun and a van from Khan’s possession, said Kiranpal Singh, station house officer of Siyana Police Station.

This comes two days after the police arrested Prashant Natt in connection with the case related to rioting, arson and the murder of Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, the former station house officer of Siyana Police Station. However, local Bajrang Dal leader Yogesh Raj, who has been identified as the prime accused in the violence case is still absconding. He has been marked as a proclaimed offender by a court.

On December 18, the police had arrested three suspects – identified as Nadeem Khan, Rahees Abbasi and Kala Qureshi, all residents of Siyana – in connection with the cow slaughter case. On the same day, the police had said that the four persons arrested initially in connection with the case over December 4 and 5 were innocent and moved an application to a court asking for their release.

On December 9, Scroll.in had reported on strikingly unsettling patterns in the way the first four persons were arrested in connection with the alleged cow slaughter case and how their families had accused the police of framing them on the basis of bogus links.