NEW DELHI (AFP) – Indian police said yesterday they had arrested one man over the murder of two men whose charred bodies were found in a car after they were abducted for alleged cow smuggling.
Cows are considered sacred and their slaughter is illegal in many Indian states.
Vigilante squads that roam highways to stop the animals from being transported across state borders have proliferated since Narendra Modi became the prime minister in 2014.
The bodies of the two men were discovered in a burnt-out vehicle in northern Haryana state on Thursday morning, a day after they went missing.
Both men were from neighbouring Rajasthan state and their families named five men belonging to the hardline Bajrang Dal group in a criminal complaint to police after their disappearance.
“We have arrested one accused so far and we are searching for others,” police officer Shyam Singh told AFP.
Rajasthan police said in a statement that the arrested man was a taxi driver and was also involved with cow vigilante groups.
