Haryana Police on Tuesday arrested cow vigilante and Bajrang Dal leader Monu Manesar.
Following his arrest, Monu was produced in a court that sent him to 14-day judicial custody.
Rajasthan Police subsequently took Monu in custody after it obtained transit remand from the court. Monu is an accused in the murder of two Muslim men from Rajasthan's Bharatpur. The incident occured in February.
Monu's arrest, however, was made in a case related to inflammatory posts on social media related to communal violence in Haryana.
"He was handed over to Rajasthan Police after it obtained a transit remand for him from a court in Haryana’s Nuh. The arrest was made by the Nuh police, reportedly in Gurugram’s Manesar. The police said a pistol, three live bullets and a mobile phone were seized from Manesar," reported PTI.
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Monu's lawyer Somdatt told ANI that he has been sent to 14-days custody and would be produced in court next on September 26.
Somdatt said that Monu has been booked under Sections 153, 153A, 295, 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Arms Act. He said he has been wrongly charged.
Monu's name had also surfaced in Nuh violence, but no case was filed against him as he was not present at the scene of violence.
On July 31, a Hindu religious procession of Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) came under attack from a mob. Five people died in the attack, including two Home Guards, and the violence later spilled over into nearby Gurugram where a mosque and shops were attacked and a Muslim cleric was killed. A video posted by Monu, accused of double-murder in Rajasthan, before the procession was said to have triggered tensions in the area.
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Following the arrest in Gurugram district's Manesar area, the police said that the adjoining districts and states were informed as per norms of his arrest. Subsequently, the Rajasthan Police secured transit remand.
A police official said that two days before the VHP's second procession on August 28, a social media post had been made saying "Parinaam ki chinta ham nahi karte. Vaar ek hoga par aakhiri hoga. (We don't fear the consequences. We will strike once, but that would be decisive strike.)".
"Cyber Police Station filed FIR numbered 37 in the case. When technical investigation was conducted, the account was found to be of Mohit Manesar. The number linked to the account was also found to be of Mohit Manesar," said the official in a video shared by PTI, adding that a joint police team subsequently conducted the raid and made the arrest.
In February, two Muslim men from Rajasthan's Bharatpur, Nasir and Junaid, were found burnt to death in Haryana's Bhiwani. Rajathan Police booked five men in their killings, including Monu who was the only one at large.
For the past few years, Monu has been Haryana's leading cow vigilante and Hindutva figure. Besides cow vigilantism, he has also claimed to work against 'love jihad'.
