A Hindu mahapanchayat held in Haryana’s Manesar district on Tuesday expressed its support for Bajrang Dal member Monu Manesar, who is one of the persons accused in the murder of two Muslim men from Rajasthan, reported The Indian Express.

At the event attended by about 80 residents, including Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad members, warnings were issued against the arrest of Manesar, a cow vigilante.

Manesar is among the five men initially booked for allegedly murdering Rajasthan residents Nasir and Junaid, whose charred bodies were found in a car in Haryana’s Bhiwani district on February 16. Their families have alleged that they were allegedly abducted by cow vigilantes. Of these, only one man named Rinku Saini has been arrested so far.

On Monday, the Rajasthan Police added the names of eight more persons to the first information report.

At Tuesday’s event, Kulbhushan Bhardwaj, the former president of Manesar bar association, said that the case was not only against Manesar and his associates but against the Hindu society.

“If Rajasthan Police set foot in Manesar to arrest Monu, they will not return the same way,” warned Bhardwaj, one of the organisers of the mahapanchayat and the man who led the protest against offering namaz in public spaces in Gurugram.

Bhardwaj also declared that he and those attending the event would not back down if they have to give or take life while protecting cows. “If atrocities against gau mata [cow] continue, the Hindu society is not going to sit quietly,” he added.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad member Devender Yadav claimed that he has CCTV footage that proves Manesar was not in Nuh when the Muslim men were killed, reported the Hindustan Times.

“Rajasthan Police has been harassing cow vigilantes and are conducting raids,” he alleged. “They have assaulted Srikant’s wife who was nine months pregnant, and there is anger among the youth.”

Neelam, a member of a cow protection group from Pataudi town, warned of blocking highways if the FIR against Manesar is not quashed. “We will get arrested en masse and fill the jails,” Neelam added.

Manesar resident Om Prakash demanded that arms licences of cow vigilantes should not be cancelled and sought security.

“To hide their own inefficiencies, the government and police first provided these arms licences to gau rakshaks [cow vigilantes],” he said. “Now, the government is talking of cancelling arms licences. This is wrong. These vigilantes are protecting the Hindu religion and gau mata.”

The mahapanchayat also formed a 16-member team, comprising cow vigilantes, that will be deputed to protect Manesar and his family.

Manesar, who frequently courts controversy over the actions of his cow protection group, had posted a video on social media denying his involvement in the case.

He has been associated with the Bajrang Dal since 2013 and is involved in several instances of cow vigilantism, according to Alt News. While he has claimed that his team has never assaulted alleged cow smugglers, several photos uploaded by the Hindutva organisation on social media have shown such men in a wounded state.

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