Cow vigilante Monu Manesar, wanted for double murder and riots, detained

Mangalore Today News Network / NDTV

New Delhi, Sep 12, 2023: Cow vigilante Monu Manesar, who was wanted in connection with the murder of two men from Rajasthan and for inciting the violence in Nuh in July, has been detained by the Haryana Police.

 

 

The Bajrang Dal activist is a key accused in the murder of two Muslim men from Rajasthan, whose bodies were found in a car in Haryana in February.

Nasir, 25, and Junaid, 35, who were residents of a village in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur district, were allegedly abducted by cow vigilantes on February 15. The next day, their bodies were found inside a car that had been set ablaze in Loharu in Haryana’s Bhiwani.

Sources in the Haryana Police said Manesar was detained on Tuesday under bailable sections of the Information Technology Act. They said he is likely to get bail by evening and the Rajasthan Police will take him into custody in the double-murder case.

"Our colleagues in the Haryana Police have informed us that Monu Manesar has been detained. After their legal procedures are complete, we will begin our procedure," said Mridul Kachawa, superintendent of police of Bharatpur in Rajasthan

Manesar is also accused of inciting the violence that broke out in Haryana’s Nuh in July, in which at least six people were killed.  The violence had begun on July 31, during the ‘Brij Mandal Jalabhishek Yatra’ organised by the Vishva Hindu Parishad, and then spread to adjoining areas, including Gurugram.

Rumours of Manesar attending the Yatra had allegedly triggered the communal clashes. The cow vigilante, who was on the run in the murder case, had posted a video a few days before the procession and claimed that he would attend it. He had also exhorted his supporters to come out in large numbers.

This had allegedly enraged some people from the Muslim community, who viewed it as a threat, and triggered a heated exchange on social media.

Manesar’s aide, Bittu Bajrangi, had also been arrested in connection with the violence last month, and was later granted bail.