Govt nod for action against shoddy probe in Pehlu case
JAIPUR: The state government has directed to take action against police personnel responsible for the shoddy probe into the Pehlu Khan lynching case.
A senior government official, on condition of anonymity, said the chief minister Ashok Gehlot at a recent meeting had directed the home and police department to take action against cops responsible for multiple lapses in the Pehlu Khan investigation.
“On Sunday, the CM in a meeting with senior officials of home and police department had directed to take action as per the SIT report which had exposed multiple lapses in the police probe and blamed officers for standard less investigation,” the officer said.
Director general of police Bhupendra Singh said that an enquiry against the cops is underway. “The vigilance department is doing an enquiry against the responsible cops after which further action would be taken,” the DGP said.
On August 14, Alwar’s additional district j udge Sarita Swami acquitted the six accused in Pehlu Khan lynching case and gave them the “benefit of the doubt” after which the state government had taken a decision to file an appeal against the verdict.
The court acquitted the six accused -- Vipin Yadav, 19, Ravindra Yadav, 29, Kalu Ram Yadav, 44, Dayanand Yadav, 47, Yogesh Khati, 30, and Bhim Rathi, 28 -- and explained why the prosecution’s case didn’t work.
On August 17, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was also set up by the state government to look into the reasons behind the acquittal of the six suspects. The
SIT in its report cited multiple lapses in the police probe and blamed officers for a “shoddy” investigation. The 82-page report pointed out loopholes by each of the four investigating officers.
On April 1, 2017, Khan was attacked by a mob on the DelhiJaipur highway near Behror in Rajasthan’s Alwar district while he was transporting cattle from a market in Jaipur to his home in Nuh, Haryana. He named six people as his attackers in his dying declaration, but all of them were cleared by the police on the basis of call records and witnesses.
Police then charged a new set of nine people – three of them minors – on the basis of videos of the attack. The six adults were cleared by the court but the government has said it will appeal the verdict in the high court. The trial of minors were held separately at a juvenile court.