Mohit Yadav alias Monu Manesar, who is evading arrest in the murder case of two men in Rajasthan, became a prominent face of cow vigilantism in Haryana during the last five years – helped by his presence on social media.
A member of the Bajrang Dal, 30-year-old Monu in a video message denied his involvement in the case and claimed he was at a hotel at the time of the incident. He also shared CCTV footage from the hotel 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.
He 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 videos, mostly live streams, have thousands of views and comments. He has 83,000 followers on Facebook and more than 2 lakh subscribers on YouTube. He received a silver play button from YouTube in October last year as the number of subscribers crossed one lakh.
Under the Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act that was implemented in 2015, cow slaughter in Haryana attracted rigorous imprisonment ranging from three years to 10 years. After this law, a number of cow protection groups, including those already present, became visibly active.
There have been allegations that cow protection groups have been targeting a particular community and indulging in high-handedness. AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi has alleged that the BJP government was shielding such vigilantes.
Monu has, however, claimed that he has been receiving death threats from suspected smugglers. The Haryana police last month filed two FIRs on his complaints.
Just days prior to that, the family of 22-year-old Varis had accused cow vigilantes, including Monu, of thrashing him to death after branding him a cow smuggler in Nuh district of Haryana, though police had said he died in a road accident.
The police said a Santro car with Varis and two others, Shokeen and Nafis, had rammed into a tempo near Khori Kalan village on Tauru-Bhiwadi road on Saturday.
Monu had claimed that they had rescued a cow from the car and taken the injured to hospital.
“I went live on Facebook and also asked the name of one of the injured, but we did not hurt any of them,” he had said.
He is now among the five accused in the case in which the charred bodies of two Muslim men from Rajasthan were found in a car in Haryana’s Bhiwani after they were allegedly abducted by cow vigilantes.
Nasir (25) and Junaid alias Juna (35), both residents of Ghatmeeka village in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan, were allegedly abducted on Wednesday and their bodies were found inside a burnt car in Loharu in Bhiwani in Haryana on Thursday morning.
However, Monu Manesar had claimed his innocence in this case. “My colleagues and I have no role but Rajasthan Police registered a case against me and my group members. I don’t even know the deceased,” he had said in his video message.
Rajasthan police has launched a manhunt for him.
The Gurugram police in Haryana also conducted raids to nab him in a case of murder attempt which was registered against him on February 7 at Pataudi police station, said officials.
According to police, a brawl broke out between two groups in Pataudi’s Baba Shah Mohalla when Monu Manesar was there along with his team. A complaint was filed by Mubin Khan, a resident of the same locality, who said that his son Mohin was shot at during firing in two groups and received a bullet injury.
Following the complaint of Mubin Khan, an FIR was registered under Section 307 (attempt to murder) against Monu and others at the Pataudi police station.
“In the case of murder attempt, Monu Manesar is wanted and we are also conducting raids to nab him”, said Manbir Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Manesar.
After completing class 12, Monu had joined a polytechnic.
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