Cow vigilante menace enters national capital

On August 8, at around 11pm, a group of self-proclaimed cow vigilantes, travelling in three cars, recorded a video as they chased a truck into a shuttered factory in Sonia Vihar and “apprehended” three men transporting meat. Claiming that the meat was of a cow, the vigilantes tied up the men — all Muslims — and then allegedly tortured them.
More than four hours later, at around 3am, the vigilantes informed Delhi Police, according to a first information report (FIR) filed in the case. A team from the Sonia Vihar police station was then dispatched, and the three men – identified as Ayyub Hussain, Mohd Mursaleem and Mohd Meerajul – were arrested and charged under provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, and sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The vigilantes were never booked in the case, despite clear signs of the three men being unlawfully detained and assaulted.
A purported video of the incident, posted by the “Gau Raksha Dal Delhi”, emerged on social media three weeks later, on August 29. In the video, Hussain, Mursaleem and Meerajul were seen tied by the neck with a single thin rope or cloth. The vigilante group’s chief, Rupesh Rana alias Rocky, was purportedly seen slapping one of his captives, even as three policemen present at the scene did little to interfere.
Read more: Cow vigilante Bittu Bajrangi to contest Haryana election, files nomination
HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the video, which went viral on social media.
Deputy commissioner of police (northeast) Joy Tirkey declined to comment on the matter, saying the case was “sensitive”. A senior officer from the northeast circle, however, said that the three men were tied up “because they had a cleaver”.
The August 8 incident is one of several cases of cow vigilantism that have popped up in Delhi over the past year. Police, however, are yet to take any significant action against the vigilantes.
A malaise creeps into DelhiOn August 24, Aryan Mishra, a Class 12 student, was shot dead allegedly by cow vigilantes after a 50km chase in Palwal, Haryana. Five people arrested in the case said they mistook Mishra and four others in the car to be cattle smugglers.
This case is part of a pattern of violence perpetrated by cow vigilantes who have increasingly taken the law into their own hands in Haryana, often with deadly consequences. The Supreme Court has repeatedly asked states to act against such gangs — leading to the Haryana government in March 2023 directing districts to set up special committees to crack down on cow vigilantes, and work on the rescue and rehabilitation of stray cattle. However, these armed vigilante groups continue to operate with impunity.
Slowly, this malaise seems to have crept into Delhi.
Read more: Faridabad Police: Making list of cow vigilantes, will track them
The Delhi Agricultural Cattle Preservation Act, 1994 prohibits the transport of cattle from the Capital to another state for the purpose of slaughtering it. In addition, any person transporting cattle to or from Delhi must have the requisite permits from a veterinary officer, stating the purpose of the transport.
The Act also prohibits the sale, possession, and transport of cow/calf/bull meat. The senior officer quoted above said offenders can be imprisoned for up to five years.
The Gau Raksha Dal Delhi came into being in 2019, and quickly gained a following on social media, with 30,000 followers on Instagram. Rana, its leader, has more than 93,000 followers on Facebook, and 21,000 on Instagram, and has posted multiple videos in which he is purportedly seen assaulting alleged cow smugglers.
The group has about 100 members — mostly from villages in Rohini and outer Delhi around Bawana and Kanjhawala — and despite posting videos that depict overt incidents of violence, they are yet to face any legal consequences.
Though other cow vigilantes are also active in Delhi, Rana is ostensibly the most prominent — no other group operates at such a scale in the city at present, and most visiting vigilantes team up with Rana during “raids”.
Vijendra Dhyani, the manager of a cow shelter at Kanjhawala Road, said, “Most of the young men here and in surrounding villages like to work with Rana since he catches many cow smugglers and rescues cattle.”
A senior police officer posted in the outer Delhi police district told HT that Rana was on the cops’ radar.
“Though we have not arrested him, we are keeping an eye on him. Last year, he and his aides held several protests and marches against cow smugglers. He was trying to create communal tension, so we detained him,” the officer said, asking not to be named.
On September 6, HT spoke to Rana at his house in Sultanpur Dabas village. He claimed to be personally acquainted with two prominent cow vigilantes who operate in NCR — Anil Kaushik (arrested in connection in the Faridabad incident), and Mohit Yadav, (better known as Monu Manesar, who was booked and arrested for the abduction and killing of two cattle traders in Bhiwani, Rajasthan and is currently lodged in jail).
“We don’t work with them. We have our own team and collect donations here,” Rana said.
DCP (Rohini) GS Sidhu told HT, “There could have been cases of cow vigilantism last year, but I am not aware of those since I was not the head of the district then. Since my tenure, we have ensured Rana and his team do not attack anyone… If he tries to do anything here, we will act against him.”
Rana also appears to change his tune when faced with public ire. On August 28, he posted a video in which he could be seen purportedly assaulting two men, accusing them of cow slaughter in the caption. But on September 3 — after the Faridabad incident came to light, and outrage over the activities of cow vigilantes began to grow — Rana changed the video’s caption to say that he had caught hold of two men who were about to rape a girl “from the Muslim community”.
When HT asked Rana about the edited caption, he said that the two men in question were from the Hindu community, and lived near his village. HT later shared the video with multiple police officers, who said they did not know where it was shot and did not receive any tip-off about two would-be rapists being held.
An officer posted with the cyber cell said they haven’t received any complaint about the incident. They said they will check whether the video was shot in Delhi or in some other state and then summon Rana.
A senior police officer from the western range said, “We take each case seriously. However, if the injuries sustained by the accused are minor and not grievous, we can’t do much. The accused are taken for MLC (medico-legal case) and they (the alleged cow smugglers) never file a complaint.”
Acting with impunityWith little to no legal action taken against them, cow vigilantes in Delhi appear to be acting in spite of overwhelming video and photographic evidence. Several FIRs registered across northeast Delhi, outer Delhi and south Delhi ranges show Rana and his followers as complainants, but the vigilantes themselves are almost never booked.
For example, Rana posted a video on Instagram on March 10 in which three men could be seen tied up inside the boot of a car, while he was seen lording over them with a long, thick stick. Multiple police control room vans could be seen passing by, but no police action was taken against him over the incident.
When asked about the video, Rana claimed that the men were “repeat offenders”, and that his group had caught them from Rohini. He didn’t mention the exact date of the incident, but claimed that the men were carrying the meat of more than five cows.
A senior police officer from the northeast district said five people — all alleged cow smugglers — were arrested. “At the time of arrest, the men were not found in anyone’s car. We don’t know where the photo or video is from… Maybe they were being held as these cow smugglers are usually armed,” the officer said.
Earlier, on February 24, Gau Raksha Dal Delhi allegedly chased a car in Neb Sarai and caught six men – again all Muslims. These men were assaulted before being handed over to the police — in one photo shot by Rana himself, one of the men was seen with a bloodied head.
Asked about the incident, Rana said, “It was the police’s fault. They never come on time. There were six of them. We were simply outnumbered. We had to control them and save our cows.”
To be sure, the FIR of the incident reveals that Rana was with 11 other vigilantes when the incident took place, so they were definitely not outnumbered, and that “all the men (detainees) sustained minor injuries due to the manhandling and assault”.
DCP (south) Ankit Chauhan said the men they stopped were beef smugglers. “We didn’t receive a complaint of anyone abusing the accused… We will have to check.”
‘How will cows get justice?’Another member of Gau Raksha Dal Delhi, who has around 1,200 followers on Instagram — HT is not sharing his name as he is a juvenile — said his group never assaults anyone unless they are armed. “We have to save ourselves too. Rocky bhaiya deals with very dangerous men who can kill anyone… The police never help us. So, we conduct raids ourselves,” he said.
Mohit Sharma, a cow vigilante active in the Kanjhawala area, said they have to be “quick” and track the movements of cow smugglers, otherwise police will intervene. “How can we trust the police? I have seen them shutting shops of these men but they don’t make any arrests. How will the cows get justice?” he asked.
Sharma shared CCTV footage dated August 25, of two men with a cow in the Sarai Rohilla area. He claimed that the men were cow smugglers and that he had shared the video with police, but the two were not arrested.
Countering Sharma, a senior police officer in the north Delhi range, on condition of anonymity, said, “No FIR was registered as the staff found that the men were taking a cow to their house. There was no proof of any cow smuggling or slaughter.”
During a visit to Rana’s house in Sultanpur Dabas village, HT found two cars — a Maruti Swift and a Honda City — that his group ostensibly uses for its daily operations. In addition, three vans were parked in the village that double up as cow ambulances, according to Rana’s followers.
Rana said that he runs a shelter for injured and stray cows, along with injured dogs and monkeys.
“Everything I do is legal. I have papers and proof. These men (that he attacks) are cow meat smugglers and I will not let anyone do this. Police never has any information on anything. We deploy our informers. Some of them are paid. Others support our cause. We also have locals who give us tips about cow smuggling… These are usually residents who witness such incidents near their home,” he said.
“We have informers everywhere. Once we get the information, we start getting details of their social media, car registration numbers and phone numbers,” he added.
Rana said that he keeps photos and information of the suspected cow smugglers in a folder at his “office”, and claimed he even has access to their GPS location. When asked about this, he said, “We put their numbers on surveillance and track their movements… We also inform the police at times but they never help us.”
An officer posted in outer north Delhi, however, said Rana is very good at publicity, and that he nabs “only” one or two smugglers a month. “There are genuine cow meat smugglers who carry pistols and weapons. They have been arrested without Rana’s help. His motive is to gain fame and nothing else,” said the officer.
A police officer posted in Rohini had a different, rather sinister take.
“Gaushala owners call Rana after selling their cattle. Rana then goes and ‘rescues’ these cattle from their new owners, and the gaushala owners get their cattle back while pocketing the money,” he said.
Rana claimed that he is an animal lover, and alleged that he is “targeted” because of a few of his videos. “I know I am targeted and videos of me are being run on X and by news channels to defame me. There are some people in my team who beat up these men, but I never do that,” he said.
When HT asked Rana about a video he posted on August 30 — in which he was purportedly slapping a man — he said that he slapped the man “only once”, because he was smuggling cattle. He declined to say anything more on the subject.