Just 100 kilometres from the national capital, two Muslim men from the Rajasthan-Haryana border were allegedly attacked and kidnapped by a mob before being set ablaze while still alive in their car. This is being referred to as yet another instance of cow vigilantism leading to the loss of life.
This is said to have occurred after the captives were accused of smuggling cows. The deceased have been named as Junaid and Nasir, both citizens of Rajasthan’s Bharatpur district’s Ghatmeeka village.
The accused Lokesh, Rinku Saini, Srikant, and Monu Manesar have each been charged with a first information report (FIR) under Sections 143 (illegal assembly), 365 (abduction), 367 (kidnapping or abducting in order to subject a person to grievous hurt, slavery), and 368 (slavery) (wrongful Confinement).
Ismail, Junaid’s cousin, stated that after discovering that Bajrang Dal members had kidnapped the two men for several hours while his family was unable to locate Junaid, they reported the incident to the local police.
According to Junaid’s relations, the Bajrang Dal members later brought the pair to the Firozpur Jhirka police in Haryana. The family claims that despite the fact that Junaid and Nasir suffered severe injuries as a result of the assault, the authorities did not detain them.
According to Junaid’s family, the bodies were severely burned during the burning and could only be identified by the licence plate of the car. Junaid leaves behind his wife and daughter. According to a local reporter, the deceased’s bodies have not yet been delivered to the family after being sent for post-mortem.
The event is being investigated, according to a tweet from the Bharatpur Police, and a FIR has been filed at the Gopalgarh police station against the accused. Gopalgarh Police Station Director has been told to take “immediate action” in the situation. To determine the reason of death, the police are awaiting the postmortem report.
In a statement to the media, DSP Jagat Singh Loharu said that it is unclear whether or not they were deliberately lit on fire.
A Muslim called Waris had passed away nearby a few days prior. Waris’ family claims that members of the Bajrang Dal under the leadership of Monu Manesar killed him. Manesar has refuted the allegation. Police spokespersons informed the public that Waris passed away in a car accident. Before his passing, Waris was seen in a now-deleted Facebook video shared by Bajrang Dal leader Monu Manesar, who is also accused of ordering the burning of Junaid and Nasir, appearing to be hurt but still speaking.
Monu Manesar has refuted the new accusations made against him in a Facebook message that was published just a short while ago. “Neither my squad nor the Bajrang Dal Haryana unit has anything to do with the incident that took place in the Gopalgarh police station in Rajasthan,” he wrote.
Law enforcement officials haven’t paid Monu and his group much attention despite the fact that they’ve previously posted a number of violent recordings on social media. Alarmingly, Manesar has a sizable social media following. He has 83,000 fans on Facebook and over 2 lakh on YouTube, where he frequently uploads content that is against Meta and Youtube’s safety policies. His team can be seen grabbing injured men by their hair in numerous pictures that he has posted on social media and accusing them of being cow smugglers.
