New Delhi: Cow vigilante Monu Manesar was arrested by Haryana Police Tuesday. He has been arrested in connection with an FIR lodged in Haryana’s Nuh district, over allegedly inflammatory speeches made in the run-up to a religious procession in the state.
Police have recovered a mobile phone, a pistol and three live cartridges from his possession, and an investigation is under way to determine if the weapon is licensed.
The FIR against Monu Manesar — lodged at the cybercrime police station in Nuh — invokes IPC sections 153 (wantonly giving provocation, with intent to cause riot), 153A (promoting enmity between groups on grounds of religion, race), 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 298 (uttering words, etc. with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 109 (punishment of abetment if the act abetted is committed in consequence and where no express provision is made for its punishment).
The FIR was lodged on 26 August over Monu’s alleged “inflammatory speeches” on social media, Nuh Superintendent of Police (SP) Narendra Bijarniya said.
In a Facebook post, Monu allegedly said — “We don’t care about consequences. There will be one assault (waar) and it will be final.”
“Upon investigation, it was found that the above post was made by a Facebook account of Mohit Manesar. During the probe, it was also found that Mohit alias Monu Manesar had created many Facebook IDs under various nicknames,” the Nuh police said in a statement.
A police source said police had been monitoring Monu’s social media.
The arrest comes around a month after Haryana’s Nuh district saw communal clashes. Monu had released a video before the Braj Mandal Yatra in Nuh this July that was deemed to be provocative. However, no FIR was lodged against him in connection with the clashes. The post for which he has been booked was made ahead of a second Braj Mandal Yatra scheduled for late-August, it is learnt.
After his arrest, Monu Manesar was handed over by Haryana Police to their counterparts in Rajasthan, where he is wanted for his alleged involvement in the murder of two Rajasthan men, Junaid and Nasir, in Bhiwani this February.
The two Muslim men, residents of Ghatmeeka village in Bharatpur district, were killed on 15 February and their charred bodies discovered in a burnt vehicle. The men were allegedly beaten to death by gaurakshaks over suspicions of cow smuggling.
In August, Rajasthan Director General of Police (DGP) Umesh Mishra had told media persons that Monu Manesar wasn’t directly involved in the murder, and that his “indirect” involvement was being probed.
This report has been updated to include latest developments.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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