Bhiwani Case: Four accused worked as Haryana Police informers or complainants in cases against cow smugglers

Bhiwani: Charred remains of a vehicle where bodies of two Muslim men were found, at Loharu in Bhiwani district, Haryana. Nasir and Junaid alias `Juna`, both residents of Ghatmeeka village in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan, were allegedly abducted on Wednesday and their bodies were found on Thursday morning. Pic/PTI

Four of the five men initially named in the FIR registered after the alleged abduction and murder of two Muslim men from Rajasthan have turned out to be either informers or complainants in cases filed by the Haryana Police in the past few weeks against suspected cow smugglers.

Nasir and Junaid, both residents of Ghatmeeka village in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan, were allegedly abducted by cow vigilantes on February 15 and their bodies were found in a charred car in Loharu in Haryana's Bhiwani the next day. The family members of the deceased had named five men linked to the Bajrang Dal in their complaint to the police.

In its FIR lodged on February 16, the Rajasthan Police named five accused -- Anil, Shrikant, Rinku Saini, Lokesh Singla and Monu Manesar -- on the basis of the complaint lodged by the victims' family. Later, four more suspects' names were added to the FIR registered at Gopalgarh police station in Bharatpur.

As per the FIRs registered recently against suspected cow smugglers at Ferozepur Jhirka and Nagina police stations in Haryana's Nuh, Rinku, Lokesh and Shrikant are described as informers while Monu Manesar, a member of Bajrang Dal, is a complainant in an FIR registered at Sector 9A police station in Gurugram. Rinku has been arrested by the Rajasthan Police.

As per the most recent FIR registered at Ferozepur Jhirka police station on February 14 hours before Junaid and Nasir were allegedly kidnapped, 'guptchar' (informer) and 'gau rakshak' (cow vigilante) Rinku informed the police that five cattle smugglers will be going towards Rajsthan in a Tata 407 carrying cows.

"A police team, along with Rinku, put up a barricade near Agon village and after 10-15 minutes, a Tata 407 reached there. After seeing the police team, the driver and his four associates jumped out of the vehicle and managed to flee. Guptchar Rinku also gave the name of the driver as Kalu and other four names. Ten cattle including eight cows were recovered from the vehicle," stated the FIR lodged by ASI Jamshed.

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The FIR was registered under the provisions of Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act, 2015 and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. Another FIR registered on January 23 on the complaint of sub-inspector Balbir Singh at Ferozepur Jhirka station also mentioned the name of Rinku as "mukhbir khaas" and a member of gau raksha group.

An FIR registered on January 19 at Ferozepur Jhirka police station was also based on a tip-off from 'gau rakshak' Lokesh. As per the complaint of sub-inspector Kaliyan Singh, he got a tip-off from Lokesh that three men involved in cattle smuggling would be going to Rajasthan's Ghatmeeka village.

According to the January 19 FIR, the police reached the spot along with Lokesh. Two cows were recovered from the vehicle while its three occupants managed to flee. Informer Lokesh identified the accused and they were booked under the relevant sections, stated the FIR. Two separate FIRs were registered on January 1 against the suspected cattle smugglers at Nagina and Ferozepur Jhirka police stations which were also based on the tip-off of cow vigilantes Shrikant and Rinku.

In an FIR registered at Nagina police station, police said a patrolling team was informed by Shrikant and his associate Sunil that a cattle smuggler was slaughtering an animal near Sultanpur village. A raid was conducted and police nabbed one Sahid alias Kala, the FIR said.

In the other FIR at Ferozepur Jhirka police station, police said they conducted a raid at a village in Nuh to nab four cattle smugglers, who managed to escape. They got tip-off about the accused by gau rakshak Rinku, the FIR said.

As per an FIR registered on January 16 at Gurugram's Sector 9A police station, Mohit alias Monu Manesar was stated as a complainant who is a member of the cow protection team and Bajrang Dal.

Monu told the police that cattle smugglers would come near Khandsa Mandi in Gurugram and take away stray animals from there to Rajasthan via Nuh in a pickup jeep, the FIR said. The vehicle was chased by the police who managed to catch one Shahid while the other five occupants of the vehicle managed to escape, the FIR said, adding three cows were recovered from the vehicle.