Out on bail, cow vigilante Bittu Bajrangi booked for assault

Bajrangi is the president of an outfit called the Goraksha Bajrang Force, and was arrested on charges of rioting, assault, brandishing weapons and dacoity in connection with the communal violence that lashed Nuh and Gurugram on July 31, 2023

The Faridabad police on Wednesday booked cow vigilante Rajkumar alias Bittu Bajrangi for assaulting a man after a video of the incident emerged on social media.

The Faridabad police on Wednesday booked cow vigilante Rajkumar alias Bittu Bajrangi for assaulting a man after a video of the incident emerged on social media. (Representational Image)

Bajrangi, 45, is the president of an outfit called the Goraksha Bajrang Force, and was arrested on charges of rioting, assault, brandishing weapons and dacoity in connection with the communal violence that lashed the Nuh and Gurugram districts on July 31, 2023. He is currently out on bail.

On Tuesday evening, a video emerged on social media platforms in which Bajrangi is purportedly thrashing a man, while at least three of the cow vigilante’s associates pin him on the road. At least one policeman is also seen in the video — an armed constable posted as security to Bajrangi as per threat perception — who is looking on even as the man is severely assaulted.

According to police, the incident occurred on April 1. However, officers aware of the matter said that the man being thrashed in the video was caught with a minor girl — his neighbour — inside his residence. While the man claims that he had invited the girl to his house to give her some chocolates, the girl’s family said that he lured the minor to his house to sexually assault her.

Assistant commissioner of police (NIT) Vishnu Prasad said that after the video came to light, the person getting assaulted was traced. “We quizzed him about the incident, following which he submitted a written complaint against Bajrangi, on the basis of which we registered a case under various Indian Penal Code sections at the Saran police station,” he said.

Prasad said that on the basis of a complaint by the girl’s father, a separate case was registered at the Saran police station — against the man being thrashed in the video — under sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.

Meanwhile, Bajrangi told HT that it was the girl’s parents and other neighbours who had brought the man to his house.

“He was drunk and tried to flee… I asked my men to catch him and keep him away from the crowd. I accept that I beat him three-four times with a stick, but that was to placate the angry crowd… I feared that they might lynch him and I will be in trouble again,” Bajrangi said.

ACP Prasad said that necessary legal action will be taken in both cases after recording the statements of eyewitnesses and the victims. He added that a separate inquiry will be carried out to fix the responsibility of the policeman who did not intervene during the assault.