Alwar lynching: Pehlu Khan chargesheeted posthumously

NEW DELHI: Rajasthan Police on Saturday filed a chargesheet against Pehlu Khan and his two sons for cow smuggling. Pehlu was beaten to death by a mob in Alwar in 2017 while he was transporting cattle.

The police chargesheeted Khan's sons Irsad (25) and Arif (22) under sections 5, 8 and 9 while charges have been framed against Pehlu posthumously under section 6 of the Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export) Act, 1995.

Section 5 of the RBA Act pertains to the prohibition of the export of bovine animals for the purpose of slaughter and regulation of temporary migration or export for other purposes, while section 6 says the transporter is also an abettor and is liable for the same punishment as the person committing the offence.


Section 8 is about the penalty for such offences while Section 9 mentions punishment for causing hurt to a bovine animal.

The charge sheet against Khan was prepared on December 30 last year, 13 days after Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's government came into power in Rajasthan.

However, on Saturday, CM Ashok Gehlot said that the chargesheet was filed based on the investigation conducted during the BJP government.

"Investigation of the case was done in the past during BJP government and the chargesheet was presented. If any discrepancies will be found in the investigation, case will be re-investigated," said the CM.

In 2018, the previous BJP government in the state had filed a similar charge sheet against two associates of Khan, who were also attacked by the mob.

There were two FIRs registered in the case. One was against the mob for beating Khan to death and second against him and his family for transporting cattle (cow) illegally out of the state.

The police had earlier given a clean chit to the six people accused of lynching Pehlu Khan. The police's decision was reportedly based on statements of the staff of a cow shelter and mobile phone records.

Pehlu Khan, a dairy farmer from Haryana, was attacked on April 1 by cow vigilantes near Behror in Alwar and brutally lynched on the suspicion of transporting cattles in pick-up trucks. He succumbed to the injuries two days after being admitted in a hospital.

Pehlu and his sons had claimed that they were transporting cows which were purchased in Jaipur, to Nuh in Haryana. Pehlu's family had claimed that they had valid documents to transport cows. However, police said they didn't have the required permit.

(With inputs from agencies)