Six named by Pehlu Khan get clean chit
DYING STATEMENT Rajasthan Police cite lack of proof, close cases
JAIPUR: Rajasthan Police have closed investigations into six people named by dairy farmer Pehlu Khan before his death in a mob attack in April, Hindustan Times has found, sparking allegations that the authorities are under pressure to protect cow vigilante suspects.
The police have cleared the six men — three of whom are linked to Hindu right-wing organisations — based on the statements by the staff of a cow shelter as well as mobile phone records, according to the investigation report that HT has read. The staff of the cow shelter, Rath Gaushala, has maintained that the six — Om Yadav (45), Hukum Chand Yadav (44), Sudhir Yadav (45), Jagmal Yadav (73), Naveen Sharma (48) and Rahul Saini (24) — were present on their premises, which was about four km from the attack site. Rath Gaushala is patronised by Jagmal Yadav.
“The statements of witnesses in the case including policemen and the employees of the Rath Gaushala indicate that none of the accused was present at the time of the attack. Call record details of the six people along with Base Transceiver Station (BTS) location of mobiles further support this,” reads the report.
“Based on the findings of the investigating officer, it is hereby recommended that the names of the six accused be removed from the case as they have been found not guilty,” the report said.
The investigation named nine other accused — two of them minors. Khan was transporting cows from a market in Jaipur to his home in Nuh, Haryana, when he was lynched by alleged cow vigilantes near Alwar on April 1, one of a string of attacks on Dalits and Muslims by self-styled protectors of an animal considered holy by many Hindus. Khan had the necessary permit to transport the cows for his dairy business.
On September 1, the Crime Investigation Departmentcrime Branch that was investigating Khan’s killing sent its findings to the Alwar police, asking them to remove the six people from the list of accused in the case. This prompted Alwar police to cancel a reward of ₹5,000 each for information about the six accused.
“The reward on the six people has been cancelled because the CID-CB investigation has found that they had no involvement in the crime,” said Alwar SP Rahul Prakash. The development angered Khan’s family members, who said they heard the accused call out each other by their names during the attack. “These six men started the attack and were present there. As we were being thrashed, I heard them call each other’s name. One was saying Hukum, drag the men down here and break the pickup truck,” Irshad, Khan’s son who was injured in the assault, told HT.
STATEMENTS OF WITNESSES, INCLUDING POLICEMEN, INDICATED THAT NONE OF THE ACCUSED WAS PRESENT AT THE TIME OF THE ATTACK, SAID THE INVESTIGATION REPORT