Jaipur/Bharatpur: Relatives of the two Muslim men who were killed allegedly by cow vigilantes in Haryana’s Bhiwani district have started an indefinite sit-in protest demanding action against the accused, even as the Rajasthan police said no new arrest has been made in the case.
On Thursday afternoon, the charred bodies of Junaid (35) and Nasir (27) — both cousins — were found inside a four-wheeler (Bolero) in Bhiwani district. The families of the deceased, both residents of Ghatmika village in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur district, alleged that they were beaten and murdered by members of the Bajrang Dal, a claim rejected by the Hindu right-wing outfit.
“Our demands should be met. We are not being given justice. Our dharna (sit-in) will continue until Monu Manesar (one of the accused named in the FIR) is arrested,” said Mohammad Javed, a relative of the deceased. “We want justice and will continue to fight for it.”
Javed is among the group of relatives and villagers who have sat on a dharna near the graves of the two deceased.
Meanwhile, one of the accused named in the first information report (FIR) registered in connection with the case, on Sunday claimed innocence and demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The accused, Lokesh Singhla Mewat, in a video clip widely circulated on social media, said the issue should not be given religious or political colour. Singhla is the district president of Gau Raksha Dal (a cow vigilante group) in Haryana’s Mewat region.
“I have been named in the FIR but it is not based on any truth. I was present in the court with my friend on February 14, the police can check the CCTV footage. On the next day, I was in the hospital as my son was unwell,” he claimed in the video clip. “I urge Rajasthan and Haryana governments not to give this issue religious or political name, and get the matter probed by CBI to bring truth in front.”
On Saturday, a senior police officer said that preliminary interrogation of the arrested accused Rinku Saini (32) — a taxi driver from Firojpur Zirka in Haryana’s Nuh district — pointed at cow vigilantism as the reason behind the crime.
“I express my deepest condolence… We are gau rakshaks (cow protectors) and not killers,” claimed Singhla in the video clip. “. “We are social people and not involved in any crime.”
He added that action should be taken against people involved in the crime and innocent should be protected.
HT cannot independently verify the authenticity of the video.
On Wednesday, a relative of the deceased filed a complaint with the Gopalgarh police station in Bharatpur alleging that five men — Anil from Multan, Shri Kant from Maroda, Rinku Saini from Firojpur Zirka, Loksh Singhla from Hodal and Monu from Manesar in Haryana — kidnapped Junaid and Nasir in a Bolero.
The accused have been booked under sections 302 (murder), 143 (unlawful assembly), 365 (kidnapping), 367 (grievously hurt after kidnapping), 368 (wrongfully keeping in confinement) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), said police.
Singhla’s video came a day after another named accused Monu Manesar, who is the head of the cow vigilante wing of Bajrang Dal in Haryana, also claimed innocence saying he had CCTV footage to prove his innocence. “I was in a Gurugram hotel when this incident occurred… and we have video. The two victims were unknown to me and I have no idea what happened to them. We are also investigating this issue on our end to find out the culprits,” Manesar was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Earlier, senior police officers said the area where the incident happened was known for crimes of cow smuggling. Even Junaid, police have said, had five cases registered against him at different police stations in connection with bovine smuggling.
On Saturday, AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, who met the families of the deceased, alleged that the BJP government in Haryana was protecting the accused. He further alleged that such incidents occur because “BJP supports and shelters such organisations due to which police do not take immediate action against them.”
Claiming it is not a matter of Muslims, but of all those people who believe in rule of law and the Constitution, Owaisi said: “Nobody has the right to take the law into their hands otherwise where will be the need for police, administration and courts.”
The lawmaker also blamed the Congress-led Rajasthan government for delayed action. “Had the Rajasthan government taken immediate action on the missing complaint related to Junaid and Nasir, then they (abductors) would have not been able to cross the Rajasthan border,” he added.
Reacting to the Hyderabad MP’s comment, BJP legislator and spokesperson Ram Lal Sharma said the incident would not have happened “if the Rajasthan police had taken action on the person (deceased) who had five cases against him” and announced a reward on him. “No one has right to take the law in their own hands. The issue should be impartially probed,” Sharma added.