Shift case from Raj: Pehlu kin
Son says no faith left in CIDCB of Rajasthan police, wants Supreme Court to order fresh probe
NEWDELHI: Days after the Rajasthan police gave a clean chit to all six people accused of lynching dairy farmer Pehlu Khan in April this year, his family has demanded that the murder case be shifted out of Rajasthan.
Khan’s eldest son Irshad told reporters here on Friday that they have no faith left in the CID, crime branch of the Rajasthan police, and want the Supreme Court to order a fresh probe.
“People who are accused are threatening us regularly. We are living in a miserable situation. Police is not helping us,” he said with mother Jebuna by the side.
Khan’s widow, her two children and his two brothers came to Delhi two days after the six accused, named by Khan in his dying statement, were given clean chit by the state police.
The gruesome lynching of Pehlu Khan on the suspicion that he bought cows to slaughter led to massive uproar and protests.
Jebuna told HT the family is living in constant fear. “I don’t want my children to continue the dairy business we have.”
Irshad said the accused have openly threatened him and his family and even lawyers demand the family visit them at night.
“Police officers tell us the accused are powerful and can do anything to us,” Irshad said.
Lawyer-activist Tehseen Poonawala declared he wants to take up Pehul Khan’s case in the Supreme Court next week while his activist brother Shehzaad questioned how the police could give clean chit to the six accused when the victim himself had named them and his son was the eye-witness to the murder.
“This is perhaps the first time when a dying person’s statement was ignored, an eye-witness‘s statement was ignored,” said Shehzaad, who pointed out that “the police maintained that the cellphones of the accused were located in some other place. The CID-CB also relied on the statement of workers of a cow shelter, Rath Gaushala, who said the six accused were present there. “The irony is that one of the prime accused, Jagmal Yadav, patronises the cow shelter.”
Shehzaad also said the bail order of one of the accused, Ravindra Singh, has several discrepancies. “At one place, it is written that the accused was seen in the video as trying to save Khan. At another place, it says he was not at the murder scene.”
Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh attacked the BJP and accused PM Modi of being “willing accomplice.” “He is responsible for instigating hate throughout the country. He maintains silence when people like Gauri Lankesh die,” he said.