On 16 April, cow vigilantes went to Basai Meo, a village around five kilometres away from Sheikhpur comprising nearly 4,500 residents. Khan and several other residents of Basai Meo allege that they arrived in the early hours of the day carrying pistols, fired 2-3 rounds in the air and chanted Jai Shree Ram. However, no one was “kidnapped” from the village. Days after a video titled ‘Taking away the cow smuggler’ went viral on social media, wherein purported ‘gau rakshaks’ are seen forcing a man into an SUV at gunpoint, police have ascertained it is from Haryana’s Nuh district. After the first such video emerged on Sunday, two more followed — one showing a gun being pointed at people from a moving vehicle, titled ‘Gau Raksha Dal, Haryana, Mewat raid’, and another showing armed men taking away a man and threatening to shoot at villagers. SP Nuh Varun Singla said that they had taken cognizance of the videos. “Earlier these had no source; we were not sure when or where they were from. But after an enquiry, we have ascertained that they are from Ferozepur Jhirka jurisdiction.” SHO, Ferozepur Jhirka, Arvind Kumar said on Thursday: “We have registered an FIR in the matter.” Officials said that a Special Investigation Team will also be formed to probe the incidents. “Such raids by individuals are banned. Initially, they were police informers who were just keeping a tab on people engaged in cow slaughter. Now, they have started misusing their role and tried to take the law into their own hands. However, no incident of assault happened in the presence of police even in the current cases. It appears the incidents shown in the video clips took place before the arrival of the police at the spots concerned,” said an official. On Wednesday, an FIR was filed based on the complaint of ASI Ravikant against “three-four unidentified persons” following an enquiry into the videos. It states that some videos had gone viral on social media and it has been alleged on social media that members of Gau Raksha Dal are associated with the incident. The FIR adds: “In the video from village Sheikhpur, some young men are seen assaulting a man and putting him in a Scorpio at gunpoint. Two-three men are seen holding sticks while one man seems to be firing a gunshot in the air with a pistol.” The FIR adds that in another video from Rawli village, some young men are seen taking a man away, and in the video from Basai Meo village, two young men are seen beating up an old man in a car. Police said the accused are yet to be identified. Note here that the FIR was made against unidentified persons. Despite the lack of anyone being named or arrested so far in the case, Hindutva vigilante outfits have been aggressively demanding the revocation of the FIR. In fact, this was one of the primary demands being made at the Mahapanchayat on 8 May.