Bajrang Dal leader Monu Manesar handed over to Rajasthan cops after arrest in Haryana
Gurugram/Jaipur (PTI): Cow vigilante Monu Manesar, who was booked by Rajasthan Police for the murder of two Muslim men in February and is also accused of inciting communal hatred in home state Haryana, was arrested Tuesday, officials said.
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.
A pistol, three live bullets and a mobile phone were seized from Manesar, police said. They are checking if the pistol is licensed.
Nuh police said they informed neighbouring states and districts about the arrest, following standard procedure. Deeg district in Rajasthan adjoins Nuh.
Manesar, whose official name is Mohit Yadav, was accused by some of being a trigger for the July 31 episode, in which a Vishva Hindu Parishad procession was targeted by mobs in Nuh leading to the deaths of six people in that district and neighbouring Gurugram.
However, the FIR registered by the Nuh police is related to a message he posted on social media amid plans by the VHP to take out another procession on August 28 to "resume" the disrupted yatra.
The Nuh police said the post attempted to create disharmony between groups on the basis of religion and wounded religious sentiments. It allegedly used objectionable language.
The local authorities had denied permission for this second yatra.
In Rajasthan's Deeg district, Manesar was accused of being part of a conspiracy to abduct and kill two men after branding them cow smugglers.
In February, Nasir (25) and Junaid (35) were allegedly abducted from Rajasthan's Bharatpur district, from an area which is now part of Deeg after the state government recently created more districts.
Their bodies were found in a burnt car in Loharu in Haryana's Bhiwani the next morning.
Rajasthan Police last month said Manesar's role in hatching a conspiracy and abetting the crime was "under active investigation". Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had also told reporters that his government would provide any assistance Rajasthan Police required to nab Manesar.
Bharatpur Inspector General of Police Rupinder Singh said a team from Deeg went to Nuh on Tuesday after learning about Manesar's arrest.
"He was produced in the court by the Nuh police and Rajasthan Police also moved an application to seek his custody. The court granted his custody to Rajasthan Police and he is now being taken from Nuh to Deeg," he said in the evening.
Earlier, Manesar was under the scanner over a video that surfaced online before the Nuh violence.
Asked about the clip days later, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij had said, "I have seen that video, nowhere is he instigating people to riot... he is asking people to join the yatra." Haryana Police, however, had said Manesar's role in the July 31 would be investigated.
The Nuh case on the new social media post is being investigated by the district's cyber crime unit.
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'Rear-guard action': BJP over Mamata accepting sports minister's resignation after Messi event
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Tuesday alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's accepting Aroop Biswas' resignation as the state sports minister is nothing but a "rear-guard action" to douse public anger over the mismanagement of football icon Lionel Messi's event last week.
BJP co-in-charge for West Bengal Amit Malviya alleged that this is also an "open confession" that the Messi event fiasco was not accidental but a government-manufactured disaster, borne out of the poor governance of Banerjee, her ministers and the state bureaucracy.
Banerjee on Tuesday accepted Biswas' resignation as the sports minister in the wake of the controversy over the mismanagement of football icon Messi's event last week, a senior leader of the ruling TMC said.
Biswas, who had written to the chief minister seeking to be relieved of his responsibilities as sports minister, will continue as a cabinet minister, retaining charge of the power department.
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Reacting to the development, Malviya said in a post on X, "TMC Sports Minister Aroop Biswas resigns after the Messi fiasco and Mamata Banerjee accepts it in record time."
"Do not mistake this for accountability; this is nothing but a rear-guard action to douse public anger. anger! This is not 'Raj Dharma'," he added.
The BJP leader alleged that the incident was the outcome of "loot" of common people which is "so synonymous" with the TMC.
The incident was also the outcome of the "shameless VIP culture that TMC thrives on and deep-rooted cronyism promoted by Banerjee," he charged.
Malviya further alleged that Biswas' resignation exposes a "collective failure of Mamata Banerjee, her partisan bureaucracy, and her crony cabinet".
"This is a symbolic sacrifice, a political hoax, soon to be buried under layers of bureaucracy, with no justice, no accountability, and no remorse," the BJP leader said, adding, "No resignation will bring back the time lost, the money wasted, or the stolen chance for football lovers to witness Messi in Kolkata."
