E-Paper
Centre seeks report from Rajasthan govt on Alwar lynching
The deceased, 28-year-old Akbar Khan, was thrashed by a group of people on suspicion of being a cow smuggler in Lalawandi village in Alwar on Saturday.
The Centre on Monday sought a report from the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Rajasthan on the alleged lynching of a man in the state’s Alwar district by suspected cow vigilantes as the incident was raised in the Lok Sabha by the Congress.
The Union home ministry asked the state government to provide details of the incident, the action taken to punish those involved in it and the steps taken to restore peace, news agency PTI reported.
The report has been sought as early as possible, an official was cited as saying by the agency.
Rakbar Khan, alias Akbar of Kol village in Haryana’s Nuh district, was allegedly beaten to death late on Friday by suspected cow vigilantes in Ramgarh’s Lalavandi forests in Alwar district, where three people engaged in the cattle trade have been killed since April last year.
Pehlu Khan, a 50-year-old dairy farmer, was among those beaten to death by vigilantes suspecting him to be a cow smuggler in Alwar in April last year.
The local police came under fire from various quarters after it was reported that they took Khan to the hospital three hours after they found him. The police have also been accused of taking him to the police station initially and beating him up.
The incident, which triggered tension in the region, took place just four days after the Supreme Court slammed the Central and state governments for failing to prevent frequent lynchings, terming them “horrendous acts of mobocracy,” and issued a slew of directions to tackle them.
Police have arrested three men, including two associated with the local unit of Shiv Sena, in connection with the case. The Rajasthan police set up a high-level committee on Monday to probe the allegations of delay against Alwar Police in taking Khan to a hospital.
The lynching of Khan was also raised in the Lok Sabha by a member of Parliament from Congress, triggering protests from BJP members. The lower house faced an adjournment following a ruckus over the incident, which has drawn widespread condemnation amid similar lynchings across the country in the last few months.
The main opposition party and the government have been sparring with each other after Congress president Rahul Gandhi attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s slogan ‘New India’ while referring to the alleged police inaction in the lynching case.
Union minister of coal Piyush Goyal asked Gandhi to “stop jumping with joy every time a crime happens”.
“The state has already assured strict & prompt action. You divide the society in every manner possible for electoral gains & then shed crocodile tears. Enough is Enough. You are a MERCHANT OF HATE,” Goyal tweeted.
The Supreme Court will hear a petition seeking contempt action against the Rajasthan government in connection with Khan’s lynching. The top court will hear the petition on August 28.
