Junaid and Nasir died from their injuries after an attack by cow vigilantes, police sources said.
The two Muslim men from Rajasthan, who were found charred to death in Haryana earlier this week in what is believed to be an attack by cow vigilantes, were first taken to the cops while still alive, police sources have told NDTV, in a startling new revelation.
According to Rajasthan Police sources, 25-year-old Nasir and 35-year-old Junaid alias Juna were attacked by a group of four men after being suspected of smuggling cows for slaughter on Wednesday night in Haryana's Nuh. They were beaten and injured severely in the attack.
Rinku Saini, a taxi driver and member of the cow vigilante group who was arrested a day ago, has told investigators that they then took the two victims to the nearest police station in Haryana's Firozpur Jhirka, sources said.
They said that Saini and his group wanted Haryana Police to arrest Junaid and Nasir on charges of cow smuggling, but seeing the condition of the two half-dead men, the policemen at the station baulked and asked them to leave. The Haryana Police is yet to respond to the charge.
Not long after, Junaid and Nasir died from their injuries. The terrified group of cow vigilantes then contacted their associates to brainstorm ways of disposing of the bodies, sources said.
They finally decide to take their Bolero SUV and both the bodies to Bhiwani, 200 km away. In the early morning of Thursday, both the bodies, along with the vehicle, were doused in petrol and set alight, police sources said.
According to Saini, they hoped that no one would be able to trace the bodies and the burnt vehicle back to them if they burnt it there, far away from the scene of the crime. However, Junaid and Nasir were identified from the chassis number of the Bolero.
According to Rajasthan Police sources, Monu Manesar of Bajrang Dal - one of the main suspects named by the families of the victims, was not involved in the kidnapping. However, he was in contact with the kidnappers and helped them along the way.
Several police teams are on the lookout for the rest of the killers. Besides Saini and Monu Manesar, the victim's families have named three others - Anil, Srikant, and Lokesh Singhla.
While Haryana authorities moved to cancel the arms licence of Monu Manesar, who remains at large, questions have been raised about his political connections as photos of him with top leaders of the state's ruling BJP circulating on social media.