Hindu gau-rakshak brutally attacked by Muslims for opposing cow smuggling in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh

Case ID : d327694 | Location : Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Thu, 5 February, 2026

Case ID : d327694

Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

5 February, 2026

Hindu gau-rakshak brutally attacked by Muslims for opposing cow smuggling in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for opposing radicals or trying to save victim

Case Summary

In Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, a Hindu gau-rakshak, Vansh Chaudhary, was brutally attacked by nearly seven Muslim cow smugglers, namely Shabez Ali, Hasnain, Jackie, Salman and others. The deadly attack resulted from Vansh's attempt to stop them from smuggling cows a few days earlier. According to media reports, the incident occurred on 6 February 2026. Vansh Chaudhary, divisional president of the Rashtriya Bajrang Dal, a Hindu organisation, had gone to Harthala Market in the Civil Lines police station area for some work. At that moment, more than half a dozen Muslim men launched a deadly attack on him, leaving him seriously injured. Vansh Chaudhary stated that some time earlier, he had chased a vehicle smuggling cattle and attempted to apprehend it, identifying the Muslim cattle smugglers at that moment. Being alone, he could not catch the vehicle, but from that day, the Muslim perpetrators began tracking him. Following this, on 6 February, they launched a brutal attack on him. As a result, he suffered serious injuries to his head and waist and received more than half a dozen stitches. The incident was reported to the Civil Lines police station, and after identifying the accused, a case of attempted murder was filed against Shabez Ali, Hasnain, Jackie and Salman. Admitted to the district hospital, Vansh Chaudhary appealed to the police to take strict action against all the Muslim perpetrators.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Attack not resulting in death. The selected subcategory is: Attacked for opposing radicals or trying to save a victim. In several cases, Hindus are attacked for opposing religiously motivated crimes being committed against a fellow Hindu or simply for voicing an opinion opposing radical elements, who either have in the past or continue to persecute Hindus. In such cases, the initial attack against the victim, against which the Hindu was trying to defend the victim, would also need to be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime. Since the initial crime itself was religiously motivated and the subsequent crime of attempting to save the victim or speaking against the radical elements ends up inviting a violent attack, it would also be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under this category. This incident constituted an unequivocal case of a religiously motivated hate crime, as a Hindu activist faced a violent attack for fulfilling his sacred duty of protecting cows, a cornerstone of the Hindu faith. In Hinduism, the cow is revered as Gau Mata, a living emblem of motherhood, compassion, and non-violence. It embodies purity and the sanctity of life, and its protection ranks as an act of profound religious devotion and service to dharma (righteous duty). Harming a person for defending this sacred being transcends physical aggression; it assaults the freedom to practise the Hindu faith and live by its teachings. The attack on this gau rakshak (cow protector) embodied deliberate religious hostility against the values and beliefs he upheld. The victim, Vansh Chaudhary, a longstanding cow protection activist and member of Hindu Bajrang Dal, was targeted by Muslim perpetrators engaged in illegal cow smuggling. His relentless fight against illicit cow slaughter and smuggling made him their marked enemy. For years, he worked to halt the trafficking of cows, driven by deep religious conviction and moral duty. He was ambushed and assaulted precisely for this reason, as he sought to stop acts striking at Hinduism's heart. This violence targeted not a mere rival but a Hindu living his faith, with the attempted murder by Muslim perpetrators underscoring its ideological and religious nature. Some may claim that the attack stemmed solely from disrupting cow smuggling as a business. However, it is important to see that the perpetrators tracked the victim for days before launching their assault, revealing calculated supervision rather than spur-of-the-moment rage or escape. This offensive violence aimed squarely at the Hindu victim for defending his faith and religious rights, marking it as a hate-driven crime. The attack formed part of a wider, alarming pattern of anti-Hindu violence targeting gau rakshaks. The Hinduphobia Tracker recorded multiple such cases. For example, on 6 June 2025 in Mandideep, Madhya Pradesh, Dalit Hindu gau rakshak Ajay Malviya suffered a brutal beating by a Muslim mob of over 500 after he and fellow Hindu activists intercepted Muslim cow smugglers transporting cattle illegally. Another case unfolded on 21 January 2025 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, where Hindu gau rakshak Manoj Baria faced an attack by five Muslim men, identified as Hussain, Waseem, and Mubeen, near Rupali Cinema in the Karanj police station area. Manoj, with a friend, endured assault with sharp weapons and sticks from masked assailants bent on silencing his cow protection activism. Given the repeated threats, explicit religious motive, and targeted violence against a Hindu practising his faith, this case met all criteria of a religiously motivated hate crime. In line with prior documented incidents of attacks against gau rakshaks, it was entered into the Hinduphobia Tracker's hate crime database as clear anti-Hindu violence fuelled by deep-seated religious animosity.