The Rajasthan Police have released the names of eight cow vigilantes, apart from the one man already arrested, they have identified as allegedly responsible for the murder of two Muslim men from Bharatpur, who were found charred to death in a vehicle in Haryana’s Bhiwani on February 16.
The list of names, however, does not include the name of Mohit Yadav, known locally as Monu Manesar and one of the figureheads of cow vigilantism in Haryana, who has insisted that he was not involved, and for whom two “Hindu Mahapanchayats” have been held in the past two days.
Rajasthan Police investigators have alleged that the nine accused allegedly accosted, kidnapped and assaulted Junaid (35) and Nasir (27) on February 15, and took them to at least two police stations in Firozpur Jhirka but were turned away by personnel there. The Haryana Police said they were investigating the claims.
According to the version of events put together by Rajasthan Police, between 4.30am and 5am on February 15, cousins Junaid and Nasir were waylaid by nine men, likely from two different cow vigilante groups, one based out of Karnal, and another from Bhiwani. While Rinku Saini was arrested from Firozpur Jhirka, the other eight are Anil and Srikant Pandit from Nuh, Kalu Jaat from Kaithal, Kishore from Karnal, Monu and Gogi from Bhiwani, Vikas and Sashikant Sharma from Jind.
Officer said the two victims were travelling in a Mahindra Bolero when the accused, travelling in a Mahindra Scorpio, stopped them near Piruka forests, suspecting them to be cow smugglers. There were, however, no cows in the Bolero, investigations have thus far revealed. The two victims were assaulted and by 6.15am, the nine men took them in an injured state to Firozpur Jhirka police station. “The police station, however, saw the condition of the two men and sent them away. They then went to the CIA (crime investigation unit) police post in Firozpur Jhirka at 8am, but here too, they were turned away,” a Rajasthan Police officer said, seeking anonymity.
Ismail, Junaid’s cousin, on Tuesday alleged that the accused attempted to get a case registered against the two victims for cow smuggling, but were turned away because of the state of their injuries. “If police had taken them into their custody or had taken them to hospital, they would have survived. But they asked the vigilantes to take the two men away, after which they died and were set on fire to evade arrest,” Ismail said.
However, Varun Singla, superintendent of police, Nuh, under the jurisdiction of which Firozpur Jhirka falls, said they were in the middle of an investigation looking into these claims. “We will coordinate with Rajasthan Police about when and where Junaid and Nasir were taken, and at what time. We are yet to ascertain the details,” he said.
Dinesh MN, Rajasthan additional director general of police, said that based on Saini’s interrogation, and technical evidence that the police have put together, the accused then took the two victims to Bhiwani before reaching Jind.
According to a second officer, this happened sometime in the evening on February 15 – it is not clear exactly when the accused set the Bolero on fire with the two men inside, before the burnt vehicle with their charred bodies was discovered by villagers early on February 16.
Inspector general of police (Bharatpur range) Gaurav Srivastav said: “We have looked at CCTV footage, call details, and other evidence and the clear involvement of these nine people was found. Three teams of the state police are looking for them in Haryana.”
HT had reported that Rajasthan Police had recovered a Mahindra Scorpio vehicle on Tuesday, and Srivastava said that preliminary enquiries said there were blood marks in the vehicle. “A team was sent to Bhiwani and the SUV was recovered from the Somnath gau-shala. There are blood stains which could possibly be of the victims. An FSL team is now looking at it,” Srivastava said.
Rajasthan Police officials said all nine men were involved with “gau raksha” groups in Haryana. “On the question of Monu Manesar, we have not named him among the nine, but he is still being treated as a suspect,” a senior officer said. Manesar, and four other men – Anil, Srikant Pandit, Rinku Saini, and Lokesh Singla – were named in the FIR registered in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur on February 15.
At least one of the eight men identified on Wednesday, Narendra Rana, who coincidentally also goes by the alias of Monu, has a previous criminal history. Bhiwani SP Ajit Singh Shekhawat said: “Narendra Rana, a resident of Paluwas village, was booked in two cases in December 2013 and October 2014 under sections of rioting, wrongful restraint and criminal conspiracy. We are checking his background, while we are yet to ascertain the full details of Anil, also from Bhiwani.”
A senior Haryana police officer said that Rana has been active with cow vigilante groups for the past seven years, and a manhunt has been launched to arrest him.
The samples taken from the victims’ relatives, bone samples taken from the victims and blood samples found in the SUV will be tested at a forensic lab.
(With inputs from Sunil Rahar)