Lucknow, January 1: The Uttar Pradesh police arrested a person identified as Kalua, who is a key accused in the murder of Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh during the mob violence which broke out in Bulandshahr on December 3, reports said on Tuesday. The weapon used by him for the murder has also been recovered.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Prabhakar Chowdhary told reporters that Kalua was arrested from a far-flung village in Aurangabad area of Bulandshahr district in the early hours of the day, after the police received information about his presence there. Bulandshahr Violence Post Ijtema Pre-Planned? Cow Remains Left in Open to Trigger Communal Tension, Says Report.

Kalua, who has been taken into custody for interrogation, is accused of hitting Singh with an axe on the head. The Inspector was later shot dead by Prashant Natt, who is already in police custody.

According to reports citing the autopsy, the axe was used to chop off one of the thumbs of the deceased, apart from hitting him on his head.

Kalua will be presented before a local court today, where the police will seek his custody, said Syana Circle officer Raghvendra Kumar Mishra.

Investigators zeroed in on Kalua through the social media clips of the mob violence. In the subsequent recreation of the crime scene, Kalua and Natt were revealed as the two prime accused.

The police found that Kalua was among those who were cutting a road-side tree to block the movement of vehicles, as the locals galvanised to protest the alleged cow slaughter. The same axe used for cutting the tree was used to assault the Inspector when he arrived to disperse the mob.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 01, 2019 03:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).