Alwar attack: Umar’s companions held on cowsmuggling charges
CASE Tahir and Javed were transporting cows with Umar when alleged vigilantes opened fire on them JAIPUR:
AlwarPolicehasarrested two men, who were travelling with murdered cattle trader UmarMohammed,onchargesof smugglingcows, officials said on Monday, as their families and activists accused the force of siding with the attackers.
Tahir Khan and Javed Khan alias Jabba were transporting cows along with Mohammed on November 10 when alleged cow vigilantes opened fire on them.
Mohammed died on the spot andhismutilatedbodywasfound dumped on railway tracks in Ramgarharea.Khanwasinjured in the attack after being hit by bullets and Javed managed to escape. All three men are from Ghat Mika village in the western’s state Bharatpur district.
“During interrogation, Khan and Javed have said that they boughtthecowsfrommembersof the Rewari community near Dausa.Suchpurchaseisillegalas mostlystraycowsareherdedand soldbythecommunitymembers without any valid documents,” Anil Beniwal, assistant superintendent of police, Alwar (south), told HT on Monday.
They surrendered on Sunday and have been booked under the RajasthanBovineAnimal(Prohibition of Slaughter & Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export)Act, 1995andRules, 1995, said the police.
Earlier, the police arrested BhagwanSinghGurjarandRamveer Gurjar in connection with the case. “The arrested men had spottedthetriodrivingtheempty pickupinthemorningandidentifying them as cow smugglers, plannedtorobthemenwhenthey returnedinthenight.That’show theattackonthemenhappened,” claimed Beniwal.
Four other men are absconding, said Beniwal.
The police had earlier denied that there was any connection between the killing of Mohammed and the recovery of a badlydamaged pickup van with cows foundabout15kmawaythesame day.
Butaftertwodaysofinvestigations, Alwar superintendent of policeRahulPrakashsaidthetwo incidents were linked and that Mohammed’skillerswere“antisocial elements”. But he refused tousetheso-calledtermcowvigilantes, who have over the past yearbecomesynonymouswitha string of attacks oncattle traders across India.
The police have maintained that the three were smuggling cowsandbothpartiesopenedfire on each other on November 10. TheyhavealsosaidthatMohammed and Khan had past cases of cow smuggling and other offences registered against them.
Mohammed’s relatives, however, say cow vigilantes are responsible for his murder and alleged that the police werehand in glove with them.
Activists have strongly condemnedthearrestofthetwomen.
“I think that the police are playing politics and it is a travesty of justice that instead of arresting the four absconding people,whoattackedMohammed and the two men, they have arrestedthevictimsthemselves,” saidKavitaSrivastavaofthePeople’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL).
Srivastavaaddedthattheincidenthasshownthatitisunlikely that victims of lynchings in Rajasthan will ever get justice.
Mohammed’s killing is reminiscent of the murder of cattle traderPehluKhanwhowaswaylaid and lynched by cow vigilantes near Alwar on April 1 this year. Khan had documents to provehewasn’tsmugglingcows.
Focusoncowprotection,especially by vigilante groups, has risensince theBharatiyaJanata Party-led government took power three years ago, and several states ruled by the saffron organisationmadelawstopunish cow slaughter.
So-called cowprotectorshave targeted cattle andmeattraders, transporters and even farmers walkingtheir animals– violence that has killed several people, mostly in BJP-ruled states. Critics accuse the vigilantes of using cows as a pretext to target Muslims and Dalits.