‘Rakbar died in custody’, Rajasthan orders probe
NEWDELHI/ALWAR: Home minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday that the central government was taking “very seriously” a rash of lynchings across the country and may bring a law, if necessary, to curb such incidents after the death of a man attacked by cow vigilantes in Rajasthan drew widespread flak.
“I want to make it clear that the government is not just concerned but has taken lynching incidents very seriously,” Rajnath Singh told the Lok Sabha after opposition members raised the issue.
Simultaneously, the Centre issued a fresh advisory to all states and Union territories to curb incidents of lynching. It asked them to appoint a superintendent of police-level officer in each district and set up a special task force for gathering intelligence and to closely monitor social media content. The advisory is based on the directions issued by the Supreme Court on July 17.
This is second advisory issued by the ministry of home affairs and came a day after it formed a committee of secretaries to recommend measures to control mob violence.
“Incidents of violence and lynching by mobs in some parts of the country fuelled by various kinds of rumours and unverified news such as child lifting, theft, cattle smuggling etc, are a matter of serious concern. Such instances of persons taking the law in their own hands run against the basic tenets of the rule of law. All state governments, UT (union territory) administrations and their law enforcement agencies are requested to implement the directions of the Supreme Court in letter and spirit. A detailed report on the action taken in the matter may please be sent to the ministry at the earliest,” said the advisory, a copy of which has been seen by HT.
Meanwhile, accepting that the man who was beaten up by suspected cow vigilantes in Rajasthan’s Alwar district last week died in police custody, the state government on Tuesday ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident. The post mortem report showed that the man, Rakbar Khan, died of shock as a result of injuries inflicted on him.
"The police department has submitted its report to chief judicial magistrate, Alwar. Now judicial probe will be done by the additional chief judicial magistrate, Rajgarh," said state home minister Gulab Chand Kataria. A parallel police inquiry will be conducted by the Jaipur Range inspector general of police, he said. Rajasthan’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government is on the defensive after Rakbar Khan’s death triggered widespread criticism from civil society activists and political parties. The state government, which faces elections at the year end, is trying to contain the polit- ical fallout of the incident.
Kataria who visited the scene of the crime in Lalwandi village in Alwar district, said the judicial inquiry had been ordered because Rakbar Khan died in police custody. He, however, denied that Rakbar Khan had been beaten in police custody.
“There was negligence as police first took the cows to a cow shelter instead of taking an injured Rakbar to hospital. Their first task should have been to take Rakbar to hospital for treatment,” he said at a media briefing at the Alwar circuit house.
On Monday, a high level police team found there was an error of judgment on part of the local police and a delay in taking Rakbar Khan to the hospital cost him his life. One assistant sub-inspector was suspended and three constables were sent to police lines.
Rakbar Khan and Aslam Khan, a friend of his, both from Kol village of Haryana’s Nuh district, were taking two cows they had bought to their village when locals of Lalwandi caught him and beat him up, suspecting the duo to be cow smugglers. Aslam Khan managed to escape the mob fury, and Rakbar Khan was declared dead on arrival in hospital on Saturday morning.Three persons have been arrested in connection with the crime.
Condemning the killing, Kataria said the law does not allow cow vigilantes to take the law into their hands. “Anyone who takes the law into their hands will face strict action,” Kataria said, promising a transparent probe.
Defending his department on a perceived increase in the number of cow smuggling cases in Alwar, Kataria said that after the opening of seven police outposts in the district, the number of such cases had declined by a tenth in the region.
Kataria said compensation of Rs1.25 lakh would be given to Rakbar Khan’s family -- matching the compensation paid to Pehlu Khan, a previous victim of suspected cow vigilantes. He said the government would also pay his family any compensation recommended by the state human rights commission.
Haroon Khan, brother of Rakbar Khan, told HT, "For the moment we are satisfied with the inquiry and announcement made by the home minister.”
According to the post-mortem report on Rakbar Khan, a copy of which is with HT, there was 750ml of blood in Rakbar’s thoracic cavity due to a rib fracture. A laceration had bruised the left side of his lung, the report said.
The post mortem examination was conducted by a medical board comprising Dr Sanjay Gupta, Dr Amit Mittal and Dr Rajiv Gupta of the General Hospital of Alwar. The post mortem report noted multiple fractures of the ribs and fractures in his left hand and left leg.