Murder accused cow vigilante dies by suicide, alleges harassment by Bajrang Dal in video sent to wife
A FIR was registered on Tuesday based on a complaint filed by his wife. The police have invoked the offences of abetment to suicide and criminal acts done by multiple accused with a common intention.
More than a year from the incident, on June 8, 1997, the UP Police arrested Ilyas from Ludhiana (Source: File/ Representational) Cow vigilante Lokesh Singla, accused in the murder and lynching of two Muslim men in Bhiwani in 2023, died allegedly by suicide on July 5, police said.
The development comes a month a video, allegedly recorded by Singla before his death and accusing senior Bajrang Dal members of mental harassment, went viral.
A FIR was registered on Tuesday based on a complaint filed by his wife. The police have invoked the offences of abetment to suicide and criminal acts done by multiple accused with a common intention.
In the video, purpotedly sent to his wife on WhatsApp, three individuals have been accused of stalking, threatening, and attempting to frame him. “These men are harassing me, sending people to follow me, and trying to implicate me in fabricated cases,” he said in the video
Rajesh Kumar Chechi, Deputy Superintendent of the Government Railway Police Faridabad, said, “We will look into all the allegations throughly. All the three named in the video have been made accused in the FIR. The investigation is on. The body was released to the family after the autopsy.”
A Bajrang Dal member on condition of anonymity said in his personal capacity that due process of law should be followed.
“If Bajrang Dal members or anyone else has been named there should be strict action and a fair investigation regardless.”
Singla’s body was recovered near the train tracks on the Agra-Palwal route. He has three kids.
The Indian Express earlier reported that Singla was an informer and witness for the police in Haryana’s Nuh district during raids on alleged cattle smugglers, even accompanying police teams on raids.
Singla was among 13 accused initially named in connection with the alleged murder of Junaid and Nasir, and are part of cow vigilante groups. The list also includes Monu Manesar, a Bajrang Dal member and face of the cow protection task force of the Haryana government in Gurgaon.
A January 19 FIR in Ferozepur Jhirka station describes Singla as a member of a cow protection group. It stated that he had informed police that three men involved in cattle smuggling would be going to Rajasthan’s Ghatmika village and that they can be nabbed if a raid is conducted. Incidentally, Junaid and Nasir hailed from the same village.
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