19, Jan 2016

The 31-year-old garage owner, who is out on bail, has returned home after spending nearly four days in jail for allegedly assaulting a Muslim couple on a train.
Written by Milind Ghatwai | Harda | Updated: January 19, 2016 10:24 am
Rajput heads a bunch of commandos who call themselves cow saviours and raid vehicles in their mission to ensure a “cow slaughter-free India”.
“I am not a terrorist. I did what my religion expects me to do. I did that only for the sake of Gaumata. How could we not enter the train and search luggage when we were told that it carries beef?” insisted Hemant Rajput, the Harda district chief of Gau Raksha Commando Force.
The 31-year-old garage owner, who is out on bail, has returned home after spending nearly four days in jail for allegedly assaulting a Muslim couple on a train. Rajput wondered why he is being penalised for what he sees as a petty offence, and why the police are after other activists as if they had committed acts of terror.
Rajput heads a bunch of “commandos” who call themselves cow saviours and raid vehicles in their mission to ensure a “cow slaughter-free India”. “People related have full rite (right) to save cow and Hindu religion,” read their identity cards.
Rajput admitted he and other activists became commandos less than a year ago because it was becoming difficult to work as Bajrang Dal activists after the 2013 riots over rumours of cow slaughter. After arson and rioting that saw the town under curfew for days, the police and district administration had kept a watch on right-wing activists. “We were scared because the police beat up Hindu activists,” said a commando The Indian Express met a few kilometres from the town.