‘RAKBAR DIED IN CUSTODY’, RAJASTHAN ORDERS PROBE

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.

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 Centre has issued a fresh advisory to all states and Union territories to curb incidents of lynching. “I want to make it clear that the government is not just concerned but has taken lynching incidents very seriously,” Rajnath Singh told LS.

The Centre’s advisory 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.