Youth dies at hospital allegedly after road accident, family claims he was assaulted by cow vigilantes

The family of a 22-year-old youth has accused cow vigilantes of thrashing him to death after branding him a cow smuggler in Nuh district in Haryana, but police said he died in a road accident.

Police said they have registered an FIR under Indian Penal Code sections related to rash driving and death due to negligence after the death of Varis.

The incident took place near Khori Kalan village on Tauru-Bhiwadi road on Saturday at 5 am when a Santro car with Varis and two others, Shokeen and Nafis, rammed into a tempo. A cow was also found in the vehicle, they said.

Both vehicles were badly damaged and Shokeen and Nafis were also injured, they said.

Police said they filed an FIR based on a complaint by Abdul Karim who was the driver of a tempo - the other vehicle involved in the accident.

Post the complaint, the three men have also been booked under section 11 (prevention of cruelty of animal act) and section 13 (2) of the Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan act 2014 at Tauru Sadar police station on Saturday, they said.

Police have also found a previous case of cow slaughter against one of the accused.

"We have found the previous criminal record of one of the accused Nafis and an FIR of cow slaughter already registered against him," Nuh SP Varun Singla said.

The family members have disputed the version and filed a complaint, alleging that Bajrang Dal activists who arrived at the scene thrashed Varis, leading to his death later.

A post-mortem has revealed that the cause of death was internal bleeding in the abdominal cavity due to rupture of the liver caused by a blunt force injury, sources said.

In his complaint filed on Sunday, Imran, the victim's elder brother, said that Varis was a car mechanic and had no involvement in cattle smuggling, police said.

Imran told the police that Varis had gone to Bhiwadi on Saturday night to check a second-hand car for his two associates and was returning when the incident took place.

Other family members also alleged that the 'gau rakshaks' had also released a video which showed them torturing the three occupants of the van.

Police said they are investigating the claims by the family.

Monu Manesar, a cow vigilante and member of Bajrang Dal, said, "After getting information I reached there and rescued the cow from their car. I went live on Facebook and also asked the name of one of the injured, but we did not hurt any of them."

He also claimed to have taken the injured to the hospital.