Bhiwani Killings | Vehicle used by cow vigilantes registered under Jind zila parishad’s name, was auctioned: Rajasthan Police

“The registration is in the name of the Jind zila parishad. We are reviewing the records in a bid to locate the present owners. The name of an organisation — Salasar Traders — came up during investigation, but there seems to be no organisation by this name in that area. Further investigation is underway,” Bharatpur Superintendent of Police Shyam Singh told The Indian Express.

“The vehicle is registered in the name of zila parishad Jind, but we have found that they had auctioned off the car. We are investigating to know more details about the auction,” said Ramnaresh Meena, SHO, Gopalgarh police station, Bharatpur, where the FIR was registered.

In the purported video traced by the Haryana Police and titled ‘Taking away the cow smuggler’, suspected cow vigilantes could be seen dragging and forcing a man into the Scorpio at gunpoint. After two more videos – one showing a gun being pointed at people from a moving vehicle, titled ‘Gau Raksha Dal, Haryana, Mewat raid’, and another showing armed men taking away a man and threatening to shoot at villagers – had gone viral last year in April, Nuh police had initiated a probe and registered an FIR against “three-four unidentified persons” under sections 285, 294, 323, 342, 506 of IPC and under the Arms Act.

The FIR, lodged on the complaint of a police officer, had stated some videos had gone viral on social media and it had been alleged on social media that members of Gau Raksha Dal were associated with the incident. The FIR said, “In the video from village Sheikhpur, some young men are seen assaulting a man and putting him in a Scorpio at gunpoint. Two-three men are seen holding sticks while one man seems to be firing in the air with a pistol.”

When The Indian Express had visited Sheikhpur village on April 28, 2022, eyewitnesses had said that on the April 23 morning, a group of 15-20 men claiming to be cow vigilantes, brandishing country-made guns, double barrel rifles and sticks, had arrived in a Scorpio and three Boleros, and fired gunshots in the air. The villagers had alleged that the vigilantes had abducted one Sahib Hussain – the man who was seen being dragged in the purported video – on the suspicion of cattle smuggling and later handed him over to the police. The same evening on April 23, Nuh police had arrested Sahib for alleged cow smuggling and booked him under sections 13 (1) and 13 (3) of The Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act, 2015. Nuh police had said he was arrested by their staff during a raid.

At the time of the incident Mohit Yadav alias Monu Manesar – who has been named in an FIR lodged in connection with the alleged murder of two men from Rajasthan, had said, “Only a part of the video is being shown… Police personnel were also at the spot. We helped police catch the person…Members of our outfit and gau rakshaks have been getting threats. We are unfazed by all this and will continue to work with the police to protect cows.”

Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters on Friday staged a protest at Ambedkar chowk in Ferozepur Jhirka and blocked the Pahari road, demanding arrest of the accused in the case.