Bhiwani Killings: Why Accused Monu Manesar's Supporters Think He Is Being Framed

On 16 February, two charred bodies were recovered from a half-burnt Bolero vehicle in Bhiwani district of Haryana. The deceased have been identified as Junaid (35) and Nasir (27), both residents of Ghatmika village of Rajasthan’s Bharatpur district. 

The families of the deceased alleged that the two were beaten and murdered by members of Bajrang Dal and mainly a man named Monu Manesar.

They have named four other men as suspects namely Shrikant Pandit, Rinku Saini, Anil and Lokesh Singhla. So far, only Rinku has been arrested by the police while others are absconding. 

Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal members, along with some of the named suspects, have called these allegations false. The Haryana VHP state president, Pawan Kumar, in a press conference said that Monu, whose real name is Mohit Yadav, and other ‘Gau Rakshaks’ have been falsely framed.

Notably, Junaid had five cases of cow smuggling and slaughter against him at Firozepur Jhirka police station of Haryana’s Nuh district.

FIR by victims’ families

A first information report (FIR) was lodged by the victims’ families against the five men in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur.

As per a report by The Times of India, the victims’ families claimed that Monu, Anil, Shrikant, Rinku, and Lokesh kidnapped Junaid and Nasir on suspicion of cow smuggling from Piruka forests near Bharatpur, before killing him.

Based on their statement, the Bharatpur police booked the accused under IPC sections 302 (murder), 143 (unlawful assembly), 365 (kidnapping), 367 (grievously hurt after kidnapping), and 368 (wrongfully keeping in confinement).

Soon after the case was registered, the Rajasthan and Haryana police conducted raids at various places to catch the men.

Monu produces footage claiming innocence 

Contrary to the allegations, the verified Twitter account of Monu shared a video on 17 February, with the caption that it was footage of a hotel in which Monu stayed with his family on the day of the purported murder.  

In another video circulating on social media, Monu can be seen saying, “Neither I nor any of the Bajrang Dal activists are associated with the death of two Muslim men. Whosoever has done this should be punished.”

As per a report by Hindustan Times, Monu, 28, is a ‘Gau Rakshak’ from Manesar area of Haryana. He is a diploma holder in a technical course. He joined Bajrang Dal in 2011. He has a YouTube channel where he shares visuals from his ‘Gau Raksha’ operations and has more than 2,00,000 subscribers. He also has 83,000 followers on Facebook. 

He is a big name for his operations against cow smugglers in the state. 

The victims’ families have gone on an indefinite sit-in protest demanding the arrest of the suspects in the case. 

As per a report by Dainik Bhaskar, Hindu outfits organised a protest march two days ago demanding a CBI probe into the matter, saying Monu is innocent. 

Another suspects gives video statement claiming innocence 

Another accused in this case, Lokesh Singhla, shared a video from his Facebook account three days ago saying, “Don’t try to paint this incident as a communal issue. We are Gau Rakshaks and not killers. I have been named in the FIR but this is not based on any fact. I was present at the court that day for personal reasons. The police can check the CCTV footage and the next day I went to the hospital as my son was unwell.”

As per this report by Hindustan Times, the police on 18 February arrested Rinku Saini (32) who is a taxi driver by profession and a resident of the Nuh district of Haryana. 

Pregnant wife of one of the suspects miscarriages allegedly due to assault by Rajasthan police

Yesterday (21 February), the Haryana police filed a criminal case against unidentified cops from Rajasthan police for allegedly assaulting pregnant wife of one of the five suspects.

The mother of Shrikant Pandit, Dulari Devi, told the police that on the intervening night of 17 and 18 February around 3:30 am, 30-40 cops from Rajasthan police barged into her house in Maroda village of Haryana and assaulted her daughter-in-law Kamlesh, who is nine-months pregnant, resulting in a miscarriage.

Nagina police station filed a case against unidentified cops under IPC sections 312 (causing miscarriage), 148 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 323 (assault), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 452 (house trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint).

Dulari Devi told the media, “She was screaming in pain but they left her in a pool of blood and went away. By the time we reached the hospital, doctors informed us she had miscarried.”

The same day, villagers in Haryana called a mahapanchayat in Manesar district as show of support for Monu, saying he was innocent as is evident by the video he has produced.

Villagers also blocked the Delhi-Jaipur highway in protest against police visiting his house as well the alleged manhandling of Shrikant’s wife. They also protested the recent order by Haryana police that they would cancel Monu’s arms license over his name figuring the FIR for Junaid and Nasir’s death. 

Questions remain over the heinous murders

Police are yet to give any statement on how the victims reached Bhiwani, which is about 165 kilometres from the site of the assault, which is alleged to be Piruka forests in Rajasthan.