Hindutva activist Monu Manesar, accused in the 2023 murders of two Muslim men by cow vigilantes in Haryana, was released from Bharatpur Central Jail on Saturday evening after the Rajasthan High Court granted him bail and was welcomed by supporters with garlands and drum beats as he travelled to his native village in Gurugram wearing a

Twenty-five-year-old Nasir and 35-year-old Junaid had gone missing on February 15, 2023, and a day later their charred bodies were found at Loharu in Haryana's Bhiwani district.

They were allegedly killed by cow vigilantes who suspected them of carrying cattle illegally. However, according to police, when the vigilantes did not find any cattle, they allegedly assaulted the two men and set them on fire in an attempt to destroy evidence.

A Bench of the Rajasthan High Court led by Justice Anil Kumar Upman granted bail to Monu Manesar on March 5, noting that he had been in custody for more than two years and that none of the 74 prosecution witnesses had been examined during this period.

This was Manesar's second bail plea before the High Court in the case registered at Gopalgarh Police Station under sections of the Indian Penal Code related to abduction, abduction to cause grievous hurt, and wrongful confinement, among other charges.

Earlier, the High Court had rejected the bail pleas of Manesar and co-accused Anil Kumar in January last year. Kumar later approached the Supreme Court of India, which granted him bail on January 28 this year.

During the hearing, Manesar's lawyers, including Ashvin Garg, argued that he had been falsely implicated and that he stood on a "better footing" than co-accused Anil Kumar, who they described as the main accused while Manesar was only alleged to be a conspirator. They also said that although three criminal cases had previously been registered against him, he had been acquitted in two and granted bail in the third.

The defence further argued that the trial was unlikely to conclude soon as none of the 74 witnesses cited by the prosecution had been examined so far. Manesar had been in custody since October 7, 2023, and had spent more than two years and four months in jail, his lawyers said, adding that "further custody of the petitioner would not serve any fruitful purpose".

However, Public Prosecutor Vijay Singh and Senior Advocate Syed Shahid Hasan, appearing for the complainant, opposed the bail plea, arguing that given the gravity of the offence and the evidence already on record, the accused did not deserve bail.

Granting bail, Justice Upman observed that the Supreme Court had already granted bail to co-accused Anil Kumar and that the trial would likely take considerable time as no witnesses had been examined so far. Without commenting on the merits of the case, the court allowed the bail application considering the period of custody.

The court directed Manesar to furnish a personal bond of ₹1 lakh along with two sureties of ₹50,000 each.

He has also been instructed to appear before the trial court whenever required and to mark his presence at the concerned police station once every three months until the conclusion of the trial. The court warned that he must not be involved in any other offences while out on bail.

The case dates back to February 2023, when 25-year-old Nasir and 35-year-old Junaid went missing. A day later, their charred bodies were found inside a burnt vehicle in Bhiwani district.

According to police, questioning of some of the accused revealed that Junaid was allegedly killed first in Ferozepur Jhirka, while Nasir was allegedly strangled in Bhiwani before the vehicle and bodies were doused with petrol and set on fire, then Gaurav Srivastava had said.

Importantly, on May 29, 2023, the Rajasthan Police arrested Hafiz Jabir, a relative of the deceased duo Junaid and Nasir, who had been actively demanding justice for the families, while the accused was roaming around.

More than a dozen family members, including nine men and four women, were also booked by the police under several sections.

In August 2023, when Manesar was absconding, the case triggered a political confrontation between the then Ashok Gehlot-led Rajasthan government and the Manohar Lal Khattar-led Haryana government. Gehlot accused the Haryana Police of non-cooperation, while Haryana Police registered a counter FIR against Rajasthan Police.

Manesar was eventually detained by the Haryana Police in September 2023 and later handed over to the Rajasthan Police.