New Delhi: Police in Rajasthan suspect cow vigilante Mohit Yadav alias Monu Manesar conspired to kill Junaid and Nasir, and mobilised and abetted the mob that lynched them and disposed of their bodies in February this year, ThePrint has learnt.
“We suspect that Monu aided and abetted the killers of Junaid and Nasir,” a senior officer of the force told ThePrint, adding that Monu — a Bajrang Dal worker — “did not need to be present at the location where the murders took place to be involved in the killing”.
“He (Monu) is involved in the murders and we suspect that he is involved in the conspiracy behind the killing, abetment and also in mobilising the mob that lynched the two men and later burnt their bodies,” said the officer.
Sources in the Rajasthan police said they suspect that Monu was in Thailand for a period of seven days sometime after the killing of Junaid and Nasir. Adding to that, sources in the police forces of both states said he kept changing locations to evade arrest and is also believed to have spent some days in Vrindavan.
A resident of Manesar in Gurugram, Monu was arrested Tuesday by Haryana police and later handed over to police from neighbouring Rajasthan. He will remain in the custody of the Rajasthan police till Thursday.
One of the 21 named in the FIR by Rajasthan police in the Junaid and Nasir double murder case, Monu Manesar has several other cases lodged against him. Besides him, police in Rajasthan have arrested 10 others in connection with the gruesome killing of the two men from Bharatpur. Addressing the media last month, Rajasthan DGP Umesh Mishra had said that the state police were investigating Monu’s “indirect involvement” in the killing.
ThePrint reported earlier on how the two Muslim men, residents of Ghatmika village in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur, were assaulted by two groups of gau rakshaks (cow vigilantes) armed with sticks and batons — one group from Mewat allegedly beat them up and another allegedly disposed of the bodies in Bhiwani where they were discovered on 16 February.
The two men were abducted from the junction of the three districts — Alwar and Bharatpur in Rajasthan, and Haryana’s Ferozepur Jhirka.
“There was massive mobilisation in this case. The self-proclaimed gau rakshaks had already been keeping track of the movement of these two men and a message was sent across that they were ferrying a cow in the vehicle. When they couldn’t find the cow, they beat up the men to extort information out of them,” said a second police officer from Rajasthan.
According to police sources, those arrested in connection with the killing told Rajasthan police during custodial interrogation that they took Junaid and Nasir to Ferozepur Jhirka police station after assaulting them but were asked to take them away by officers present who cited the condition of the two men and lack of jurisdiction. It was after this that the two were taken to Haryana’s Bhiwani and allegedly burnt to death by the accused.
“Monu Manesar has a huge force working under him. These gau rakshaks have sources everywhere that tip off the leaders whenever they suspect anyone of smuggling cows. It is a huge and fast network that remains active throughout day and night,” said the first police officer quoted earlier.
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Monu Manesar allowed to roam free with impunity?
In the eight months between the killing and his arrest in the case, Monu Manesar was active on social media and even gave interviews. His utterances are believed to have added to a communally charged atmosphere in Haryana’s Nuh in the days leading up to violence during VHP’s Braj Mandal Shobha Yatra in the last week of July. Police in Haryana, however, did not find a video he posted two days before the Nuh violence as provocative and no FIR was lodged against him in connection with the communal clashes that claimed six lives.
On 26 August, before the second leg of the yatra, an FIR was lodged against him at Nuh’s cyber crime police station for creating enmity between groups and hurting religious sentiments.
Asked why it took eight months for Rajasthan police to arrest him in connection with the killing of Junaid and Nasir despite the fact that he was active on social media, sources in the force blamed “public support” and “protection” as the main reasons behind this delay.
His status as a resident of Haryana further delayed any legal action initiated against him by the Rajasthan police, sources added.
“Monu Manesar enjoys tremendous support from the public. Moreover, he is a resident of another state. One has to understand that to arrest someone like him, who enjoys such massive support and protection from his fans and aides, it becomes very difficult for the police of another state to trace and track him. These cases require support and coordination with the police of the state from where the accused belongs,” said the second police officer.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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