Rajasthan Police free to act against Monu Manesar: Haryana CM Khattar

Chandigarh: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar Wednesday said the Rajasthan Police is free to act against Bajrang Dal member Monu Manesar, booked in the February killing of two Muslim men and accused by some to be a trigger for the Nuh violence.

Khattar reminded that the last case against Manesar, a cow vigilante, was lodged by the Rajasthan Police.

At a press conference in Chandigarh, the chief minister while fielding questions on the communal violence in Nuh and Gurguram said, “The Rajasthan Police was looking for Monu Manesar. We do not have any input where he is now. The Rajasthan Police is free to act against him." Khattar also said his government will provide any assistance they (Rajasthan Police) require to nab Manesar.

There were reports that Manesar, 30, was supposed to join the Vishva Hindu Parishad procession that was attacked in the Muslim-dominated Nuh on Monday.

Six people, including two home guards and a cleric, have died in the clashes that erupted in Nuh over an attempt to stop a Vishva Hindu Parishad procession and spread to Gurugram over the past two days.

A video of Manesar that he would join the Brij Mandal Jalabhishek procession in Nuh was widely circulated on social media.

Asked if that video could have instigated some people, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij said, "I have seen that video, nowhere is he instigating people to riot...he is asking people to join the yatra." Answering a query at a presser, state police chief P K Agrawal said on Wednesday an SIT will be formed to investigate the cases of communal violence in Haryana and the role of Manesar in the clashes is being probed.

On February 15, two Muslim men -- Nasir (25) and Junaid alias Juna (35) -- both residents of Ghatmeeka village in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan, were allegedly abducted by cow vigilantes and their bodies were found inside a burnt car in Loharu in Haryana's Bhiwani on the morning of February 16.

A total of nine people, including Manesar who runs a cow protection group, were booked in the case by the Rajasthan Police. However, Manesar, in a video message, had denied his involvement in the case.

Manesar, whose original name is Mohit Yadav, became a prominent face of cow vigilantism in Haryana during the last five years - helped by his presence on social media.             He joined the Bajrang Dal as a co-coordinator in his home district Manesar in 2011 and was a member of the district cow protection task force formed by authorities after Haryana's cow protection law came into force in December 2015.

Manesar is now the district president of Bajrang Dal and frequently courts controversy over the actions of his own cow protection group and shares videos of vigilantes chasing, confronting and nabbing alleged cow smugglers.

The Bajrang Dal member had earlier claimed that he received death threats from suspected cattle smugglers.

He is also an accused in an attempt to murder case and the Gurugram police had conducted raids to nab him in connection with the case which was registered against him on February 7 at Pataudi police station.