Bittu Bajrangi, who is out on bail after being arrested in the case of violence in Haryana’s Nuh last year, has been caught on camera beating up a man with a stick as others from his cow vigilante group pin him down. In the video, which has now gone viral, a policeman is seen standing within touching distance of the man, but remains a mute spectator.
The police have not registered a case yet.
Police officials said the video is from April 1 and the man who has been thrashed is a resident of Faridabad’s Sarurpur. The man, Shamu, was accused of luring two girls from his neighbourhood into his house by offering them chocolates and local residents suspected that he intended to sexually abuse them. Some of his neighbours barged into the house and caught hold of Shamu.
News of the incident spread and members of Bajrangi’s cow vigilante group, Goraksha Bajrang Force, reached the spot and took Shamu with them to their leader’s house in Faridabad’s Sanjay Enclave. The video from outside Bajrangi’s house shows the cow vigilante, who is also a Bajrang Dal member, holding a stick as other men from his group drag a pleading Shamu along the ground.
A policeman is seen sitting on a chair inches from the man and he gets up, but does nothing to intervene. A man can then be heard asking the others to turn Shamu on his side and Bajrangi alias Raj Kumar proceeds to hit him with a stick at least four times. Police officials said the mother of one of the girls had also hit Shamu with the stick before Bajrangi proceeded to do so.
The officer in charge of Saran Police Station said, “We have seen the viral video and are looking for the man who was beaten up. After we get a complaint from him, we will take appropriate action. If we don’t get a complaint from him, we will track down the accused using the video and social media and take action against them.”
The communal violence in Haryana’s Nuh had broken out in July last year during a procession organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and then spread to other areas, including Gurugram and Badshahpur. Five people were killed and at least 70 people were injured. A mosque had also been set ablaze and a cleric was among the dead.
