Alwar Lynching Victim Buried After Seven Days: What Has Happened So Far

Umar Khan, who was shot dead in his native Ghatmika village last week was buried on November 16, a week after he was killed.

The two accused confessed to killing Umar and identified themselves as “Gau Rakshaks”. They also confessed to mutilate his body. Umar Khan, a 35-year-old dairy farmer in Rajasthan was transporting cows to his home in Pahari Tehsil of Alwar district when he was attacked and subsequently killed.

What the police has to say

According to a report by The Indian Express, Alwar Additional Superintendent of Police, Mool Singh Rana said, “We have arrested Ramveer Gujjar and Bhagwan Singh who confessed to the assault.”

He further added, “They told us that they had spotted an empty pick-up truck passing through their village and suspected that it would return with cows. The Gau Rakshaks claimed that the people in the pick-up truck first fired at them and so they returned fired. We have identified their four accomplices and efforts are on to nab them.” He said that the duo mutilated the body to make it look like an accident.

Rana said, “Umar, Tahir and Javed were habitual smugglers. The pick-up truck they were using was stolen from UP and its number plate belonged to a motorcycle.”

Alwar Superintendent of Police, Rahul Prakash said that both Tahir and Ummar were also wanted in previous cases. “Umar had been absconding since 2012 under RB Act, (Rajasthan Bovine Animal [Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export] Act). We have written to Bharatpur and Haryana police to see if there were more cases against them,” he said.

Until now, the police denied a connection between the killing of Umar Khan, whose body was found on railway tracks in Alwar’s Ramgarh, and a badly-damaged pickup van with cows found about 15 km away the same day.

Police, initially, said they were investigating two different cases; that of the man’s body found on tracks in Ramgarh area on Friday, and that of a badly-damaged pick up van with five cows and a dead one found about 15 km away in Fahadi village of Govind Garh area on the same day and refused to draw connections between the two.

Tahir Khan suffered a bullet wound and was taken to a hospital in Ferozepur in Haryana while Jabba was not traceable, he said.

Victim’s family alleges companions are hiding truth

According to a report by Hindustan Times, Umar’s brother Khurshid said, “We think that Tahir Khan and Javed are not telling the whole truth. There are several discrepancies in their statements. We don’t know who killed my brother but there is a need for a fair probe.”

He further said, “When Khan and Javed returned to the village, we asked them about my brother’s whereabouts. They couldn’t give a satisfactory answer and said that he will return soon. Now they are constantly changing their statements.”

“Don’t have manpower to prevent every incident”

Reacting to the incident, Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria said on Monday that the State did not have enough manpower to “control” the situation. According to a report by the Firstpost “The incident took place at night and police are acting on the case. One person has been detained.” He also expressed hope that the case would be cracked soon. “We don’t have so much manpower to enable us to control every situation at all places, even before the incident is reported”.

Demands by the village elders

A deadlock on post-mortem has persisted for four days with the relatives of the deceased insisting on the arrest of all the culprits, who were called cow vigilantes. The relatives also demanded a compensation of Rs 50 lakhs. With the state government remaining unrelenting, the village elders are thinking of forming a committee to raise fresh demands of relief which may include a government job for the victim’s eldest son Maqsood.

The villagers will shortly meet the Superintendent of Police of Alwar with their demands. A march of civil rights group to the CM’s residence on Wednesday failed to get any response.

Earlier this year, Pehlu Khan, a 55-year-old dairy farmer from Haryana was lynched by an angry mob in Alwar’s Behror when he was transporting cattle. The death triggered national outrage and a demand to rein in right-wing vigilante groups, whom Prime Minister Narendra Modi had blamed last August for fomenting social tension and called for action against them.

Meanwhile, the Rajasthan Bovine Act was also taken into action for a case of cow smuggling against unidentified persons in order to get further clarity on the issue.

Also read,

Man Allegedly Shot Dead & Thrown On Railway Tracks By Cow Vigilantes In Rajasthan, Alwar