Alwar Lynching: Police Charges Pehlu Khan And Other Victims For Cow Smuggling

Pehlu Khan, the dairy farmer who was lynched by ‘Gau Rakshaks’ last year in April, has been charged with cow smuggling. The charge sheet names two of his associates along with him for smuggling cattle which is not allowed under Haryana’s law.

The charge sheet was filed by Alwar police in the court of the Behror additional chief judicial magistrate on January 24, The Indian Express reports.

After the lynching, police arrested six men who were named by Khan in his dying declaration but released them based on the testimonies of people from the local Gaushala in Behror. The police had cited mobile location details of the six men along with statements of policemen to set them free. From the video available of the incident, the police have identified nine men as accused and are trying them in court for murder.

The second charge sheet filed by Alwar Police before the additional chief judicial magistrate of Behror court on 24 January charged Khan and companions under Sections 5,8,9 of the Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export) Act, 1995 and Rules, 1995, reports The Quint.

The police alleged in the charge sheet that the accused didn’t have permission to take the cows out of Rajasthan.

“We didn’t get any documents…That’s why they have been found guilty of smuggling cows,” said Head Constable Harun Khan of the Behror police station, who is the investigating officer as per The Indian Express.

The incident

On April 5, 2017, 55-year-old Pehlu Khan, a dairy farmer from Haryana, was brutally lynched by cow vigilantes (Gau Rakshaks) in Alwar, Rajasthan.

Khan and his five associates were transporting cows from a cow fair from Alwar to their hometown in Nuh, Haryana. They had taken a minivan to transport cows and were attacked by the mob near the Jaguwas crossing on the Jaipur-Delhi National Highway 8.

Though the victims had produced documents to show that they had purchased the cows as their own cattle, the attackers didn’t pay heed and thrashed them brutally, alleging they were illegally transporting cows.

Irshad, one of Pehlu Khan’s claimed they had receipts to show that they had purchased the cows. Showing the receipt, which has the stamp of the Jaipur Municipal Corporation (serial number 89942 dated April 1, 2017), he said: “I don’t know how an FIR was registered stating that we had no purchase receipt. I bought the cows for Rs 45,000,” reported The Indian Express.

The Logical Indian Take

Earlier investigations revealed that Khan was a dairy farmer and not a cow smuggler. Yet, after almost a year of the incident, Khan along with his associates, who too were beaten up, have been charged with cow smuggling. The victim who died in the name of cow protection is being charged with a crime he did not commit. This is a deliberate attempt to harass his family.

Also Read:

5 Months After Pehlu Khan Was Murdered By Gau Rakshaks, Clean Chit Given To 6 Accused

“Gau Rakshak” Hooligans Turned Terrorists, Killed A Dairy Farmer (Not A Smuggler)