New Delhi: Cow vigilante groups in Haryana are seeking to arm themselves, alleging that attacks on them have been increasing recently, The Tribune reported.
According to the newspaper, a trader who it described as being associated with cow vigilante groups was allegedly shot at by a group of men in Haryana’s Nuh district on Tuesday (June 25).
The Times of India cited the trader as suspecting his attackers to be cow ‘smugglers’, but reported that local police were unable to confirm this.
Police also told The Tribune they couldn’t confirm if the trader was “involved in any cow protection activity”.
Two weeks ago, a cow vigilante was allegedly shot and critically injured by cow smugglers following a car chase in Nuh, PTI reported citing local police.
Vigilante groups are telling their members to apply for arms licenses following the alleged attack on the trader, The Tribune reported. It cited a vigilante leader as saying that attacks on them had increased recently.
“Attacks have increased. The cattle smugglers were lying low, but after the recent Lok Sabha elections, they are suddenly back in action, and this time with more might,” Shrikant Mewati, the vigilante leader, alleged.
Cow slaughter is banned in Haryana, whose government has set up ‘cow protection task forces’ at the state and district levels to help enforce the ban. Local cow vigilantes are members of the district-level task forces and otherwise help in policing the ban, too.
There are reports that Muslim residents of Nuh – which is a Muslim-majority district – saying that incidents of cattle-related lynchings and fear of cow vigilantism had shrunk the once-popular cattle trade in the district.
The district was the site of communal violence last year, where at least seven people were killed and properties burnt or otherwise damaged.
One of the reasons behind the violence is believed to have been a video featuring self-proclaimed cow vigilante Monu Manesar, who is accused of attempt to murder and was arrested in September. He was granted bail in January.
The Tribune cited cow vigilante groups as saying they had secured 90 arms licenses following the Nuh communal violence but that they needed more.
