Man Accused In Death Of Rajasthan Men Prominent Face Of Cow Vigilantism

Monu Manesar is the district president of Bajrang Dal and frequently courts controversy over the actions of his own cow protection group.

Mohit Yadav alias Monu Manesar, who is evading arrest in the murder case of two men in Rajasthan, became a prominent face of cow vigilantism in Haryana during the last five years - helped by his presence on social media.

A member of the Bajrang Dal, 30-year-old Monu in a video message denied his involvement in the case and claimed he was at a hotel at the time of the incident. He also shared CCTV footage from the hotel on social media. He joined the Bajrang Dal as a co-coordinator in his home district Manesar in 2011 and was a member of the district cow protection task force formed by authorities after Haryana's cow protection law came into force in December 2015.

He is now the district president of Bajrang Dal and frequently courts controversy over the actions of his own cow protection group and shares videos of vigilantes chasing, confronting and nabbing alleged cow smugglers. The videos, mostly live streams, have thousands of views and comments. He has 83,000 followers on Facebook and more than 2 lakh subscribers on YouTube. He received a silver play button from YouTube in October last year as the number of subscribers crossed one lakh.

Under the Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act that was implemented in 2015, cow slaughter in Haryana attracted rigorous imprisonment ranging from three years to 10 years. After this law, a number of cow protection groups, including those already present, became visibly active.