The Rajasthan police have started questioning Bajrang Dal leader Monu Manesar in connection with the Bhiwani killings. Manesar was arrested by Haryana police in Gurugram and handed over to the Rajasthan police.
According to Rajasthan police officials, during the probe, it was revealed that cow vigilantes had information on the victims - Junaid and Nasir - about a week before they were murdered.
An officer said that the modus operandi of self-styled cow vigilantes involves the sharing of details of people they suspect of cow smuggling several days before taking action. Following this method, the registration numbers of Nasir and Junaid's vehicle and their phone numbers were allegedly shared among the vigilantes about a week before they were assaulted on the intervening night of February 14 and 15.
As per a chargesheet filed in May against three persons, the accused split into two groups and created a blockade to intercept the duo at Peeruka on the Rajasthan-Haryana border. This indicated that the accused had prior information about the victims’ route.
“Their plan was not to commit this act (of killing Nasir and Junaid) but to pick them up. They just wanted to first catch them with the cows. But when they didn’t get the cows, they beat them with the intention of finding out about smuggled cows,” an officer was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.
The assault, however, went out of hand, leaving the victims with serious injuries. Their charred bodies were later found in a car.