Cow vigilantism was reason behind Bharatpur killing: Rajasthan police

The Rajasthan police presented the arrested accused, Rinku Saini, before the Bharatpur court, which sent him to five-day police custody.

The Rajasthan police, probing the killing of two Muslim men from Bharatpur on Thursday in Haryana’s Bhiwani, have claimed that cow vigilantism was the reason behind the crime and all accused are from Haryana.

The charred bodies of two Muslim men were found inside a vehicle in Haryana’s Bhiwani district on Thursday. (ANI File Photo)

A senior police officer familiar with the matter said that during interrogation, an arrested accused, Rinku Saini, has confessed that he was part of a cow vigilante group and had picked up the victims-- Junaid, 35, and Nasir, 27-- along with others.

The charred bodies of Junaid and Nasir, who were cousins, were found inside a vehicle in Haryana’s Bhiwani district on Thursday. The families of the deceased had alleged that they were beaten and murdered by members of the Bajrang Dal – a claim rejected by the outfit.

The victims’ cousin, Ismail, 62, registered a complaint with Gopalgarh police station on Wednesday claiming that five men identified as Anil, Shri Kant, Rinku Saini, Loksh Singhla and Monu (all from Haryana) had kidnapped Junaid and Nasir in the morning in a Bolero jeep.

Police arrested Rinku Saini, 32, a taxi driver, on Friday and presented him before the Bharatpur court on Saturday, which sent him to five-day police custody.

“Rinku has confirmed some names from the accused named by the victim’s family in the FIR and also other new names, but not of Monu,” said an official.

“We are trying to verify his claims and are conducting an investigation,” said the officer, who did not wish to be named.

To be sure, a confession or disclosure statement of any person made before a police officer is not admissible as evidence before a court unless it is backed by other evidence. Only a confession before a judge is admissible as evidence against an accused.

Inspector general of police, Bharatpur range, Gaurav Srivastav said no new arrest was made on Saturday.

Meanwhile, a delegation led by minister Zahida Khan met chief minister Ashok Gehlot at his residence and demanded the arrest of the accused involved in the case.

The bodies of the deceased were buried on Friday and the government has announced financial assistance of ₹21 lakh each to the victims’ families.

Meanwhile, union joint general secretary of the VHP, Surendra Jain, said the names of Bajrang Dal members are “unnecessarily being dragged in the case”.

Mewat region, which falls in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur and Haryana, is considered a hotbed of cow-smuggling in the region. As many as 14 check posts have been set up in Mewat across two states since 2014 to check cow-smuggling.