Photos: Tracing the last journey of Pehlu Khan
Updated On Aug 21, 2019 03:06 PM IST
Last week, an Alwar court had let off all the six men accused of lynching Pehlu Khan on the benefit of doubt, following which the state government instituted a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the alleged police lapses in the case. Hindustan Times pieced together this account of the fateful trip, which was to end in his death at the hands of a mob and Jaibuna’s widowhood, from conversations with the family and others on the heels of a court verdict that acquitted six people.
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Updated on Aug 21, 2019 03:06 PM IST
Pehlu Khan’s youngest daughter holds out photos of her father, in Nuh, Haryana. In 2017, before Ramzan, Pehlu Khan, a cattle trader from Haryana’s Nuh, went to a market in Rajasthan to buy buffaloes in order to expand his dairy business. Little did he know the decision would result in his death. (Amal KS / HT Photo)
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“I remember he told me not to worry about how we would make it through Ramzan. He said that selling buffalo milk to the local suppliers would fetch us enough money,” Khan’s widow, Jaibuna, 51, said. “The plan was to buy two buffaloes and not cows. Selling a litre of buffalo milk here fetches around Rs 50. For cow’s milk, it is Rs 30.” (Amal KS / HT Photo)
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A view of Pehlu Khan’s house in Nuh. Khan began his career as a driver, but he was the only son and his mother Ankuri Begum worried that they may lose him in a road accident. The family decided they would make a living trading cattle and selling milk. Khan wanted to buy more buffaloes in the hope of earning an extra profit and buy new clothes for Ramzan, which was a little more than a month away. (Amal KS / HT Photo)
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Khan chose the cattle market he frequented the most – the Hathwada road market in Jaipur, Rajasthan, a 233 km ride from Jaisinghpura. Khan told his children he had booked a pick-up van from a man in Nuh. He would leave on Friday evening, spend the night at the fair and return with the buffaloes the following day. His sons Irshad and Aarif also accompanied him. (Amal KS / HT Photo)
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“I remember our last meal together. We had dal and rotis. Papa did not eat much and discussed money and his plans to celebrate Ramzan. Bhai [brother] told him not to worry,” Aarif said. They reached Jaipur at around 10pm – with plenty of time for the fair that would begin at daybreak the next day. The three men found a spot in the field where thousands like them were squatting for the night, waiting for the fair to kick off. (Amal KS / HT Photo)
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The Saturday cattle fair on the Hathwada road in Jaipur is among the biggest in Rajasthan. Organised by the city municipal corporation, the fair attracts traders and farmers from small villages in states such as Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, and Delhi, and milks the stellar reputation of Rajasthan’s bovine breeds. About 3,500 cows and buffaloes are brought to the fair every Saturday. (Amal KS / HT Photo)
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All traders were asking between Rs 50,000 and Rs 60,000 for a buffalo. Khan wanted two animals but was carrying less than Rs 50,000. With the sun blazing overhead, Khan decided it was time to drop the idea of buying buffaloes and look for cows. At the fair, every buyer has to pay an outgoing tax of Rs 100, known locally as Ravaani (yellow piece of paper with the stamp) for each cow. For a buffalo, it is Rs 200 a head. (Amal KS / HT Photo)
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At around 6.30pm on April 1, around 111km from their home, near Rajasthan’s Behror town, Irshad noticed three or four bike-riding men flagging him down, riding next to their pick-up van. Aarif said they stopped immediately. “Irshad was the first one to be dragged out. My father was next. We showed the papers of our purchase but they tore them. They said we were Muslims and were taking the cows for slaughtering,” he added. (Amal KS / HT Photo)
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The police arrived an hour later and caught some men from the spot. “The five of us were huddled into an ambulance and sent to the local hospital,” Irshad said. Khan was fighting for his life at the Intensive Care Unit of Kailash Hospital in Behror. That night, he briefly regained consciousness and named six men for the assault – names him and his son had heard during the attack. He died two days later. (Amal KS / HT Photo)
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The subsequent investigation of Khan’s death became one of the most high-profile probes in the country, but was beset by numerous lapses and discrepancies, which finally resulted in six people accused of killing him getting acquitted. The place where the Khans were attacked is unrecognisable today. Next to the pavement where the three were pinned to the ground, a real estate group is building bungalows and villas, with the tagline “committed for a better tomorrow”. (Amal KS/HT PHOTO)
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