4-member panel to probe Alwar lynching
NRK Reddy, the chief of the four-member panel appointed by Rajasthan police chief OP Galhotra on Monday to probe into the circumstances of the death of Rakbar Khan, admitted that there had been lapses by the police.
“At the preliminary stage we find that there is some error in judgement. There was a time lapse of three hours. If the police had responded in a better manner, the incident could have been avoided,” said Reddy, inspector general of police (law and order).
Rakbar, 31, died after suspected cow vigilantes assaulted him at Alwar’s Lalavandi village on Saturday morning.
The exact sequence of events of the intervening night of Friday and Saturday remains unclear owing to several narratives.
In one, the police are accused of thrashing Rakbar after the assault, taking over three hours to take him to the hospital after having tea and dropping cows he was suspected to be smuggling at a cow shelter.
Reddy said assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Mohan Singh has been suspended for lapses in the case and three constables transferred to Alwar police lines.
Hemant Priyadarshi, inspector general, Jaipur, a member of the panel investigating the case, visited the spot where Rakbar and his associate, Aslam Khan, were assaulted. The official spoke to the locals, including Nawal Kishore Sharma, a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)-appointed
gopalak (cow protector). Sharma claims to have been the first person to inform the police about the incident and accused them of beating up Khan.
The sketchiest version of the story is Aslam Khan’s. According to him, the duo bought two cows for ~60,000 and were herding them home when they heard gunshots. “As we were passing through Lalavandi, some people started shouting that we were trying to steal cows. They rushed towards us. I got scared and ran into a field,” he said. Aslam said he could not see the attackers because of darkness, but could recognise their voices as they were “abusing us very loudly”. He added that he remained hidden in the field long until daylight on Saturday before returning to his village in Haryana.
In his statement to police Sunday, Aslam said the attackers shouted “We are MLA’s men” as they came after him and Rakbar.
Rakbar’s father Sulaiman Khan denied allegations that his son was a smuggler. “I do not believe what the people and police are saying. We are a poor family and my son used to work as a labourer at a stone mine.”
The police have arrested Dharminder Yadav, Paramjeet Singh and Jitendra Singh and charged them with unlawful assembly, wrongful restraint, voluntarily causing hurt and murder.
Dharminder’s father Kailash doesn’t believe his son could be involved. “We are so afraid of the police that I have not met my son yet. Like my son, police can arrest me too without any evidence.”
Ranjeet Singh, accused Paramjeet’s brother, too, questioned the investigation. “The police have arrested those who have helped them. (Paramjeet) is the one who helped. Is he behind bars for his honesty? He could have very easily fled the spot but he stayed there with Dharminder because he is honest,” he said.
Sharma said he informed police about the attack on Rakbar at 12.30am on Saturday, 15 minutes after Dharminder Yadav called him up to say that some villagers were beating “a cow smuggler”. He said he accompanied the police to the spot, where they found Khan drenched in mud.
This is the second version of the events that does not portray the police in good light.
“(Rakbar) was conscious when we reached there about 1am. We took him to a tube well nearby to clean him up,’’ Sharma said. He claimed that Yadav arranged for some clothes before police started questioning Rakbar.
“Just then, one of the constables, Surender Yadav, started beating him with his belt and gun’s butt saying he was a cow smuggler. ASI Mohan Singh tried to stop him but the constable continued to assault him,” he alleged.
Sharma also claimed that the police asked him to arrange for a vehicle to send the two cows to a shelter home.
“Police took Rakbar, Dharminder and Paramjeet to the (Ramgarh police) station,” he said, adding that he handed the cows over at the shelter around 3:15am and returned to the police station by 3:40am.
“I saw Rakbar being beaten at the station (too). He fell on after which the policemen took him to the community health centre where he was declared dead,” Sharma alleged.
But there’s a third version that questions Sharma’s own role, too.
Pushpendra (who uses only one name), a Ramgarh resident, said Sharma is a friend of ASI Singh and constable Surender Yadav, who were the first to reach the spot.