ALWAR: Two years after Haryana resident Pehlu Khan was lynched by cow vigilantes in Rajasthan's Alwar district, police here have filed a chargesheet against his two sons and a truck operator for illegally transporting cattle. The issue triggered a row with AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi charging that the Congress in power was the "replica of the BJP". Owaisi was reacting to earlier reports that Pehlu Khan was also chargesheeted.

Although the case goes back to April 2017 when the BJP was in power in the state, the chargesheet is being filed months after the Congress took over.

"The chargesheet was accepted by the court on May 24 against three persons under the Rajasthan Bovine Animal Act. Since Pehlu Khan had died, he has not been chargesheeted," Alwar Superintendent of Police Anil Paris Deshmukh told PTI.

However, Pehlu Khan's name was mentioned in the summary of the chargesheet.

Police maintained that the case against Pehlu Khan, his sons Irshad Khan (25) Aarif Khan (22) and truck operator Khan Mohammad stood proved in the investigation.

They were charged under under the Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition of Temporary Migration or Export) Act, 1995.

Pehlu Khan and his sons were thrashed by a mob on the suspicion of cow smuggling in Alwar's Behror on Aprli 1, 2017. Pehlu Khan died at a hospital in Alwar on April 3.

The Rajasthan Police registered a case against the people who allegedly lynched Pehlu Khan and thrashed his companions. Six men were named in the FIR which also mentioned about 200 unidentified people.

A case was also registered then against Pehlu Khan and others under the Rajasthan Bovine Animal Act, which allows the transportation of cattle only after getting permission from the administration.

Police had then booked 16 people for illegally transporting 36 animals in six vehicles.

They were on their way to Nuh district in Haryana from Jaipur when the cow vigilantes stopped two of the vehicles in Behror on the Jaipur-Delhi national highway, thrashing Pehlu Khan and his sons.

Amid the row over the latest chargesheet, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot Saturday distanced himself from any role in the investigation. "Investigation into the case was done during the BJP rule. If any discrepancy is found, we will get the case re-investigated," he said.

"The Congress has not changed its stand on the issue," he added, saying those who indulge in such killings on the pretext of "gau raksha" won't be spared.

Later, the CM tweeted that this was a case separate from the one related to the lynching, and was registered and investigated under the previous government.

Since the three accused named in the chargesheet were not present at the time of its submission in December 2018, the district court accepted the "challan" on May 24, he said.

"However, our government will see if the investigation was done with predetermined intentions," he tweeted.

Earlier, former BJP MLA Gyan Deo Ahuja said Pehlu Khan and other accused were involved in the smuggling of cows, which was "proved" in the police investigation.