Two Muslim men were allegedly charred to death inside a vehicle by Cow Vigilants in the Bhiwani district of Haryana, NDTV reported.
On Wednesday, two Muslim men identified as Nasir, 25, and Junaid, 35, had been kidnapped from Rajasthan’s Bharatpur district, their families alleged in their complaint to the police.
The charred bodies of Nasir and Junaid were found in a Mahindra Bolero SUV on Thursday morning in Haryana’s Bhiwani district. Police are still trying to establish whether the remains are those of Nasir and Junaid.
“The burnt bodies of two unidentified men have been found in the car. To ascertain whether the two men are the same who were kidnapped, our team has gone to the spot with the family members. After post-mortem and DNA analyses, their identification will be verified,” Bharatpur Inspector General Gaurav Srivastava said.
Whether the two were burnt alive or died in a fire that broke out in the car is being investigated. The families of the two kidnapped men identified the vehicle and said that the owner of the car was known to Nasir and Junaid.
The police said they were investigating whether cow vigilantism was involved in the deaths. Mr. Srivastava said Junaid had five cases of cow smuggling against him while Nasir had no criminal record.
The five men accused of kidnapping Nasir and Junaid are Monu Manesar, Lokesh Singhia, Rinku Saini, Anil, and Srikant. Monu Manesar is a member of the right-wing organization Bajrang Dal. All five accused allegedly claim to be cow vigilantes.
This is said to have happened after accusations of cow smuggling were made against the victims.