Cow vigilantes ran 'extortion' racket in Haryana, Rajasthan

Tribune News Service

Sumedha Sharma

Gurugram, October 9

Cow vigilantes in Haryana and Rajasthan allegedly extorted money from notorious cattle smugglers to allow them to pass through the states without any problem. This startling fact came to the fore during the interrogation of Anil Multhan, who is one of the eight key accused in the Nasir-Junaid murder case.

Strong network

Extortion is the key source of income of these gangs. They have a strong network in Mewat. An investigator

Multhan was arrested from Gurugram. He is in custody of the Deeg police till October 12.

The police had named 21 others, including Monu Manesar, for their alleged involvement in the conspiracy in the murder case. The police had also sought rejection of Manesar’s bail accusing him of “extorting” money from alleged smugglers.

Multhan told investigators that vigilantes ran a close-knit group and tracked movement of smugglers and trucks carrying cattle.

Tracked smugglers

• Nasir-Junaid case accused says vigilantes tracked movement of cattle smugglers
• They extorted money to allow trucks to pass through the states
• If smugglers failed to pay, they were thrashed & handed over to police

Deeg SP Brijesh Upadhyay said Multhan was expected to reveal many aspects of the case and cow vigilantism in the region. “He is being questioned. As of now, we can’t give details,” he said. However, a senior investigator said small vigilante groups in Haryana and Rajasthan were being funded by extortion money. “Extortion is the key source of income of these gangs. They have a strong network in Mewat. They have lists of cattle smugglers and seek payment from them for allowing their trucks to pass through the area. If they fail to pay, they are thrashed and handed over to the police,” he said. “The payment depends on the number and type of cattle being smuggled and the area they were caught in,” said a senior police official.

Multhan reportedly told the police that Nasir and Junaid were helping smugglers transport cattle without paying any extortion money. This reportedly irked vigilante groups.

The vigilantes planned to catch them red-handed and hand over to the police, but the ploy failed as they could not get hold of truck smuggling cattle. “They had information that Nasir and Junaid were helping smugglers cross the area and they wanted to catch the duo. However, when they failed to find the truck, they thrashed them,” said the officer.

Multhan will be taken to the crime scenes in Deeg and Bhiwani where he will be quizzed about the role of 21 other vigilantes named in the chargesheet.

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