Man suspected of cow smuggling killed, 2 held

A 28-year-old man, Akbar Khan, on suspicion of being a cow smuggler has been beaten to death by a violent mob of cow vigilantes in Rajasthan's Alwar district, police said on Saturday. Two persons have been arrested. The Congress on Saturday said PM Modi's silence on the lynching of the man in Ramgarh area on Friday night sends a loud message that nobody is safe in the country despite the Supreme Court''s stern warning to stop this ''mobocracy.''

AICC General Secretary Ashok Gehlot said lynching of the person despite the presence of the police was "horrific" and arrest of just two persons was quite inadequate. Police rushed Khan to hospital where he succumbed to the injuries.

He said Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's condemnation of the incident is not enough as such incidents are recurring in Rajasthan time and again. The CM had tweeted: “The incident of the alleged lynching of a person transporting bovines in Alwar district is condemnable. The strictest possible action shall be taken against perpetrators.” Condemning the killing of Akbar Khan in the strongest words, Gehlot tweeted: “Most shocking, horrific and unfortunate incident... A man was lynched by mob in #Alwar#Rajasthan despite hon'ble Supreme Court's warnings and instructions.”

“Rajasthan government has failed to check such heinous crimes despite the recent Supreme Court judgment. For BJP, human life has no value. Criminals guised as vigilantes are roaming freely without fear of law n order,” Gehlot said in another tweet.

He said, “The PM remains silent on such cases of lynchings and State CM orders customary inquiries, wherein actual accused are hardly arrested or punished.”

Gehlot said he can only say that “lynching and the NDA government are running parallel to each other.” Why have incidents of lynching suddenly increased, he asked and said he has no doubts that ‘comments of ministers motivate the mob’. Khan, a resident of Mewat in Rajasthan, was transporting the animals

to his village along with another man when they were stopped by a group of villagers near Lalawandi village in Alwar. They were brutally thrashed, the office of Additional Director General Jaipur Range, Ramgarh, received this information at 12.40 am.

When the police team reached the spot they found an injured Khan lying in the mud. Two persons were standing there with two cows, ADGP Hemant Priyadarshi told the media. Khan told the officers that he and his companion Aslam had purchased the cows from Ladpur and were on their way to their village when they were mistaken for cow smugglers and attacked. "My limbs are broken," said Khan covered in mud before collapsing. He was immediately rushed to a hospital, where he was declared brought dead. His body was sent for autopsy. The police in Ramgarh registered a case against unidentified persons under several sections of the Indian Penal Code.

Police have arrested Dharmendra Yadav and Paramjit Singh Sardar who were found on the spot standing with bovines.Further probe is on. Alwar has earlier also witnessed attacks in the name of cow protectionism.

The latest killing comes more than a year after Pehlu Khan was murdered allegedly by some cow vigilantes in April 2017. The central and state governments came under a sharp criticism from the Supreme Court earlier this week over frequent lynching incidents. The Supreme Court also asked Parliament to come up with a law to tackle cow vigilantism and lynching, calling such incidents "horrendous acts of mobocracy" that should be nipped in the bud.

Cases of mob fury have been on a rise in India. According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, 45 persons were killed by mob in 40 cases across nine states between 2014 and March 03 this year.