A Rajasthan court on Saturday, February 18, sent one accused to police remand for five days in connection with the abduction and murder of two Muslim men allegedly by cow vigilantes, while Haryana authorities moved to cancel the arms licence of Monu Manesar who is among the four evading arrest in the case. The family members of Nasir (25) and Junaid alias Juna (35), residents of Ghatmeeka village in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan whose charred bodies were found inside a burnt car in Loharu in Bhiwani in Haryana on the morning of Thursday, February 15, met Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot who assured them all the accused would be arrested at the earliest.
AIMIM (All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen) president Asaduddin Owaisi, who was in Rajasthan on a two-day visit, alleged that a delay by the Rajasthan government in acting on the missing complaint lodged by the family members of the two men allowed the accused to flee the state. He also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of protecting such elements. Members of Hindu outfits including Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal held a protest in Gurugram, demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry in the case.
"The arrested accused Rinku Saini was produced before the court today from where he was sent to five days police remand. The accused will be further interrogated," Station House Officer of Gopalgarh Ramnaresh Meena said. Saini (32), a resident of Firozpur Jhirka in Haryana's Nuh district, was arrested on the basis of interrogation and technical analysis on Friday night. He works as a taxi driver and was involved with a cow vigilante group, the Rajasthan police said.
One of the key accused in the case is Mohit Yadav alias Monu Manesar, the Gurugram district president of Bajrang Dal who was also a member of the district cow protection task force. He was earlier named in an attempt to murder case registered at Pataudi police station in Gurugram on February 7, and police said they were trying to nab him. Officials said they have started the process of cancellation of his arms licence.
Manesar Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Manbir Singh said that as per rules, an arms licence is cancelled if the licence holder is booked for a heinous crime. "The process of cancellation of the arms licence of Monu Manesar has started and it will be cancelled soon," he said.
Monu, who frequently courts controversy over the actions of his cow protection group, had posted a video on social media denying his involvement in the case. He is known for sharing videos of vigilantes chasing, confronting and nabbing alleged cow smugglers. The videos, mostly live streams, have thousands of views and comments. Monu also has a silver play button, which is provided by YouTube for channels that have more than one lakh subscribers.
"Family members had demanded justice and early arrest of all the accused. The [Rajasthan] Chief Minister has assured that the accused will be arrested and cooperation from Haryana will be sought if it is required," Rajasthan Minister for Education Zahida Khan, who led the delegation which met Gehlot, told reporters.
The family members of the deceased had named five men linked to the Bajrang Dal in their complaint to the police. Protesting members of right-wing Hindu outfits on Saturday, February 18, demanded an apology from the Gehlot government for "defaming" Bajrang Dal and its members and alleged that Rajasthan police was wrongly implicating members of cow protection groups in the case.
Shouting slogans like "Owaisi Murdabad'' and "Gehlot Sarkar Murdabad", the protesters handed over their memorandum to Naib Tehsildar Sushil Kumar. “There should be an impartial inquiry into this entire matter first because we feel that the Gehlot government, by adopting a policy of appeasement under a conspiracy, wants to gain political mileage in the upcoming elections by implicating the cow vigilantes in false cases. This entire matter should be investigated by the CBI, and before the completion of the investigation, the cow protectors should not be harassed. Otherwise they will be forced to agitate," said Ajit Yadav, district president of the VHP.