Alwar cow protection group lynches five men: Another accused held

Another accused has been arrested by the police in connection with the cow vigilantism incident in Alwar on Saturday.

Another accused has been arrested by the police in connection with the cow vigilantism incident in Alwar on Saturday.

Five men were thrashed on suspicion of smuggling cows in Rajasthan’s Alwar.(Reuters File Photo)

The Rajasthan government on Friday sent a report to the ministry of home affairs (MHA) on Alwar incident in which a cow protection group allegedly thrashed five men on the Jaipur-Delhi highway near Behror last Saturday, .

The Supreme Court had earlier on Friday issued a notice to the Rajasthan government seeking a reply on the matter within three weeks, after a Muslim man was allegedly killed by gau rakshaks over suspicion of cow smuggling in Alwar.

Besides Rajasthan, the court also issued notices to Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Jharkhand.

The top court’s directive came after a petition was filed by activist Tehseen Poonawalla sought a ban on gau rakshaks and a probe on all incidents of cow vigilantism in these states.

The matter has been deferred to May 3 for further hearing.

On Thursday, Alwar incident sparked war of words in the Parliament as well. Both the Houses of Parliament witnessed heated exchanges regarding this incident.

Congress Rajya Sabha member Madhusudan Mistry demanded the dismissal of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state in view of the “breakdown of constitutional machinery”.

At least three people were arrested in connection with an attack on a group of five men by the cow vigilantes that led to the death of one Muslim man earlier on Wednesday.

The incident took place on April 1 after gau rakshaks allegedly affiliated with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal stopped their vehicle on NH8, alleging that they were illegally transporting cows.

An FIR has been registered and investigation is currently underway.