MAN KILLED BY COW VIGILANTES IN ALWAR HAD VALID PERMITS

Civic bodies grant transport permit when bovines are bought for farming

: A group of five men attacked by so-called gau rakshaks in Rajasthan had valid permits for transport of cows and calves, the family member of one of the injured men said Wednesday, two days after one of them succumbed to injuries.

The vigilantes accused the men of taking the cows for illegal slaughter.

The five men thrashed by gau rakshaks on Jaipur-Delhi highway on Saturday, leading to the death of one of them on Monday, had valid permits for transport of cattle, said family member of one of the injured men.

“My brother bought three cows for ₹75,000 from animal flea market in Jaipur on Saturday. He paid ₹700 to Jaipur Municipal Corporation for transport permit,” said Yusuf Khan, brother of Azmat, who was among the five men assaulted by gau rakshaks.

The gau rakshaks attacked the two vehicles, carrying 10 bovine alleging that the cattle were being smuggled for slaughter.

Yusuf shared with Hindustan Times the two transport permits, one issued in the name of his brother Azmat and the other, in the name of Irshad, another cow trader.

Local bodies — municipalities, municipal corporations, and panchayat bodies — issue transport permit when cattle are bought for farming.

“They left him to die,” Yusuf said, talking about the medical condition of 22-year-old Azmat. “He has big clots under his left eye and is not able to hear but we have brought him home,” he added.

Pehlu Khan, the 55-year-old man who succumbed to his injuries in Kailash Hospital in Behror, was with his two sons, Arif and Irshad at the time of the attack.

“His sons are numb as the village mourns their father’s death. What was their fault? Buying cattle for farming is not a crime,” questions another villager.

There was palpable tension in Jaisinghpura village in Nuh teh- sil in Haryana, which is hub of cattle trade in the region. Nuh and Alwar fall in the Mewat region having high concentration of Muslims engaged in cow trade business.

Since the BJP governments have come to power in Haryana and Rajasthan, different cow vigilante groups have become active in Alwar-Nuh belt leading to confrontations.

Husain Khan, Pehlu ’s relative, told Hindustan Times that the deceased told him before he died in the hospital that the assailants tried to tear their transport permits when the six men told the gau rakshaks that they were legally transporting the cows.

His (deceased Pehlu Khan’s) sons are numb as the village mourns their father’s death. What was their fault? Buying cattle for farming is not a crime. A VILLAGER