Rajasthan police gives clean chit to ‘cow vigilantes’ accused of lynching Pehlu Khan

Jaipur: Six men who carried cash reward on their heads for murdering Pehlu Khan in public after accusing him of cow slaughter were given clean chit by Rajasthan police.

Pehlu Khan was lynched by a mob of cow vigilantes in Alwar’s Behror area on April 1. His family members registered an FIR naming many people. It was alleged that Pehlu Khan didn’t have permission from authorities to transport animals. The vigilants intercepted his vehicle and beat him and nearly 15 other people accompanying him severely. He died while undergoing treatment. Other injured were admitted to a hospital in Behror.

Alwar police announced a cash reward of Rs 5000 each on six absconding men including Om Yadav, Hukum Chand Yadav, Sudhir Yadav, Jagmal Yadav, Naveen Saini and Rahul Sharma. The police had arrested five of these people. They were given clean chit.

Police officials said that the mobile call location of these people showed their presence somewhere else at the time of the incident. The police also recorded statements of some employees of a cow shelter. On the basis of these statements, the police concluded that the five men were not at the spot.

Former Rajasthan chief minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot slammed the government for exonerating these accused men.

Shocking! What has happened to law n order machinery? What kind of inquiry is this, in which all culprits are given a clean chit?#PehluKhan

— Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) September 14, 2017

“Shocking! What has happened to law n order machinery? What kind of inquiry is this, in which all culprits are given a clean chit,” Ashok Gehlot tweeted. He said that such investigations only raised suspicions and eroded people’s faith in the system.

Meo Muslim community in Alwar has threated to approach the Rajasthan high court against the cops letting off accused in Pehlu Khan lynching case. They said that these men were associated with right-wing Hindu organizations.