The chairman of the Haryana unit of People For Animals, Union minister Maneka Gandhi’s NGO for animal rights, said he had trained two of the men suspected to be involved in the assault of three buffalo transporters in Delhi’s Kalkaji area, The Indian Express reported on Monday. Naresh Kadyan added that he had been conducting such training sessions since 2005 under the instruction of the woman and child development minister.

“I was asked by Mrs Maneka Gandhi to conduct the training then. I remember during the exercise that we had caught a truck carrying brushes made of mongoose hair. I told the volunteers that the first thing to do in such a situation is to call the police and let them do their job,” Kadyan told the daily. He admitted that Saurabh Gupta and Gaurav Gupta, the duo accused of instigating PFA activists to beat up three Muslim cattle transporters in Delhi on Saturday, had been part of the exercise

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Kadyan, however, distanced himself from the incident. “I don’t know what kind of work these people do now under the umbrella of People for Animals...this is not the training I had given them,” he said.

People For Animals has denied any involvement in the incident. The Delhi Police on Monday arrested a 32-year-old man in connection with the assault. The accused, identified as one Shashank Sharma, had claimed to be a member of the animal rights NGO.

Two cases – one for the assault and the other for cruelty towards animals – were registered in connection with the incident. The men transporting the animals – Rizwan (25), Kamil (25) and Ashu (28) – were arrested under under provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act on the basis of a complaint filed by PFA members, the police said. They were released on bail.

Another case was registered under the IPC against unknown persons on a complaint filed by the driver of the vehicle, the police said.