PTI, NEW DELHI: The two men, detained for allegedly attacking JNU student leader Umar Khalid, claimed today that they were cow vigilantes who had come to disrupt the event that was underway at Constitution Club in Delhi to draw attention towards protection of cows, police said.
Darwesh Shahpur and Naveen Dalal were detained by police in the early hours today, they said.
During interrogation, the duo told police that they had planned to disrupt the event ‘Khauff se Azaadi’ (Freedom from Fear) that was being held on August 13 at Constitution Club, where activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan and Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha were present as speakers.
When Dalal reached the Constitution Club, he found Khalid outside the venue and attacked him.
The duo told police they wanted to draw attention towards the issue of cow protection and thought that targeting the event would highlight their cause, police said.
A team of Delhi Police’s Special Cell had visited the village of Sikh revolutionary Kartar Singh Sarabha, where the two had said they would surrender on August 17 but they did not turn up.
In a video uploaded on Facebook on August 15, they claimed the attack on Khalid was supposed to be an “Independence Day gift” to citizens.
