New Delhi: The Rajasthan police arrested two suspects in the Junaid and Nasir murder case on Friday, April 14. The duo’s bodies were found charred to death on the Rajasthan-Haryana border on February 16, after they were abducted by some vigilantes who accused them of cow smuggling.
Gaurav Srivastava, the inspector general of Bharatpur in Rajasthan, said on April 14, Friday, that the two accused persons were arrested in Dehradun. They were presented in court and the police obtained 10 days of remand.
A month ago, Srivastava had told The Wire that more people could be involved in the killing of Junaid and Nasir. At the time, he had said that there were eight accused in this case. But since then, the police have added more names to the list of suspects.
On Friday, he said that Haryana Goraksha Dal’s president, vice-president, and co-workers were allegedly involved in the killing of the two men. The police have issued notices to them.
As of now, the police have arrested three suspects, including one accused who was arrested in February.
Also read: In Junaid and Nasir’s Rajasthan Village, Stunned Silence Has Given Way to Anger, Fear
‘Lapse on part of Haryana police’
In an interview with NDTV, Srivastava said that some officials of the Haryana police have been called for questioning because there was “huge administrative negligence on their part”.
He told the news channel that the vigilantes who abducted Junaid and Nasir “were in touch” with some Haryana police officials and had first taken the victims to the police after beating them up.
But instead of registering a case or providing medical assistance, the cops asked the vigilantes to take the duo “somewhere else”, he said.
The inspector general also revealed that Junaid was beaten to death by the vigilantes and Nasir was strangled to death after he was taken to Bhiwani in Haryana. The car and the bodies were then burnt using petrol, he told NDTV.
What do the families have to say?
Junaid’s wife told The Wire that the family “will only be happy when all the accused are arrested and punished by the courts.”
Nasir’s brother Hamid, meanwhile, is planning to file a writ petition in the Supreme Court on the killings by cow vigilantes in Haryana over the past few years. It is signed by the families of many persons who were killed by cow vigilantes.
“First, our brother was killed and now we are afraid that if we demand action [against the accused persons], then we might also be attacked,” he added.
Recently, the social media accounts of one of the accused, Monu Manesar, were seen to be active. The Wire reached out to the police for a comment on this matter. The police have not responded to this question at the time of going to press. The story will be updated as and when they respond.