Minister backs police clean chit

Says police must have come to the conclusion on the basis of evidence

JAIPUR: A day after Hindustan Times reported that the CID-CB of the Rajasthan police had given a clean chit to six people named by Pehlu Khan in his dying statement, state home minister Gulab Chand Kataria defended the police.

“They must have concluded this on the basis of evidence and witnesses before them. I will not say anything on their findings,” he said.

Khan was among the five Muslims beaten up on suspicion of transporting cows for slaughter on April 1 this year. He died after two days.

Kataria had earlier called Khan a cow smuggler citing closed cases in Rajasthan Assembly.

He said there were three cases of smuggling against the farmer. But HT found out that there were no cases against Khan and in the two against his son, he had been acquitted.

The home minister’s statement on Khan’s criminal antecedent stemmed from a report sent to his office by the Alwar police, a copy of which is with Hindustan Times.

Meanwhile, head of CID-CB Pankaj Kumar Singh said the crime branch did a detailed investigation and found that six people named in the FIR were not involved in the attack on Khan.

“Khan named eight people; we found two of them were involved in the attack. The other six were not present at the site of attack,” he said.

The CID-CB, after concluding its investigation, sent the case back to Alwar police for filing charge sheet against the people found involved in the crime. Police have charged nine others – including two minors – for the murder.

HT spoke to Om Yadav, one of the six people ‘acquitted’ by the CID-CB investigation after he found out that his name will soon be struck off the FIR. “I got the good news this morning,” he said. “My family, relatives and I suffered a lot for close to six months but I am happy truth prevailed in the end.”

THE MINISTER HAD EARLIER CALLED KHAN A COW SMUGGLER. HE SAID THERE WERE THREE CASES OF SMUGGLING AGAINST THE HARYANA FARMER