Killing of Junaid and Nasir: Difference between revisions

{{Incident infobox

|date=2023-02-15

|lat=28.4825

|lon=75.8829

|killed=2

|injured=0

|trigger=cattle transport

}}

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The '''killing of Junaid and Nasir''' took place in February 2023, when two men from Ghatmeeka village in Bharatpur district, [[Rajasthan]], were allegedly abducted by cow vigilantes who suspected them of cow smuggling.<ref name="tribune-2023-05-20" /> Their burnt remains were found the next day in a vehicle at Barwas village in the Loharu area of Bhiwani district, [[Haryana]].<ref name="tribune-2023-02-17" /> Rajasthan Police named 30 people in a chargesheet; as of March 2026 the case was still awaiting trial.<ref name="newslaundry-2026-03-13" />

Nasir, aged 25, and Junaid, also known as Juna, aged 35, were residents of Ghatmeeka village in Bharatpur district of [[Rajasthan]]. After their deaths, police said that one of the two had been involved in cow smuggling cases, and the Press Trust of India reported that five bovine smuggling cases had been registered against Junaid at different police stations. Police said they were investigating whether the killings were an act of cow vigilantism.<ref name="tribune-2023-02-17" />

According to their families, the two men were abducted on 15 February 2023. On the morning of 16 February a local resident alerted Bhiwani police to a burnt SUV at Loharu in which skeletal remains were found; police identified the vehicle's owner from its chassis number.<ref name="tribune-2023-02-17" /> The Tribune reported that the vehicle was found at Barwas village, in the area of the Loharu police station in Bhiwani district.<ref name="tribune-2023-05-20" />

Rajasthan Police alleged that the two men had been kidnapped by cow vigilantes on suspicion of cow smuggling and severely beaten before their bodies were burnt.<ref name="tribune-2023-05-20" /> In September 2023 the Superintendent of Police of Deeg, Brijesh Jyoti Upadhyay, said the attack had been planned about eight days in advance, that the accused had found no cattle with the two men and had then assaulted them. Police said the victims' travel plan and vehicle number had been shared in a WhatsApp group used by the accused.<ref name="tribune-2023-09-15" />

The victims' families alleged in their complaint that the abductors belonged to the Bajrang Dal. A first information report was registered at Gopalgarh police station in Bharatpur district against five people under sections 143, 365, 367 and 368 of the Indian Penal Code. The Inspector General of Police for the Bharatpur range, Gaurav Srivastava, said those named were associated with the Bajrang Dal but that their involvement had yet to be established. Six people were detained for questioning.<ref name="tribune-2023-02-17" />

In May 2023, about three months after the killings, Rajasthan Police filed a chargesheet in a court at Kaman naming 30 people as accused, with investigation still pending against 27 of them. Three accused had been arrested at that time. Those named included a Haryana-based cow vigilante who had not earlier been listed among the key accused and who was then absconding. The Tribune reported that the chargesheet did not address the role of the Nuh police, to whom the victims had allegedly been taken.<ref name="tribune-2023-05-20" />

Haryana Police arrested that vigilante in September 2023 and handed him to Rajasthan Police, and a court at Kaman remanded him to judicial custody. Police said WhatsApp chats showed he had been in contact with more than 20 of the accused and had guided them, while his role in the burning of the bodies was still being investigated.<ref name="tribune-2023-09-15" />

As of March 2026 the case was pending before the Kaman Sessions Court and the trial had not begun. According to Newslaundry, cases had been registered against 30 people, of whom five had been arrested. On 5 March 2026 the Rajasthan High Court granted bail to the principal accused, and his release was celebrated by supporters.<ref name="newslaundry-2026-03-13" />

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot condemned the killings and directed police to take strict action, and the state's education minister, Zahida Khan, visited Ghatmeeka. A spokesperson for the Rajasthan unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Ramlal Sharma, said it was unjustified to malign any organisation before the investigation was complete.<ref name="tribune-2023-02-17" />

After the bail order in 2026, Junaid's elder brother, Mohammad Ismail, told Newslaundry that granting bail was "an injustice" and suggested the family was being treated unjustly because it was poor and Muslim. Nasir's younger brother, Hamid, said he had taken up work as a truck driver and was raising Nasir's children.<ref name="newslaundry-2026-03-13" />

In July 2025 one of the men accused in the case died after jumping in front of a train near Palwal in Haryana. Before his death he recorded a video alleging harassment by members of the Bajrang Dal. On a complaint from his wife, the Government Railway Police in Faridabad registered a first information report against three people for abetment of suicide.<ref name="tribune-2025-07-09" />

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<ref name="tribune-2023-02-17">{{Cite news|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/haryana/2-men-found-charred-in-bhiwani-rajasthan-police-detains-6-people-for-interrogation-480690|title=2 men found charred in Bhiwani: Rajasthan Police detain 6 people for interrogation|publisher=The Tribune|date=2023-02-17|author=PTI|access-date=2026-10-31}}</ref>