Pehlu Khan Lynching Case: Rajasthan Court Acquits All 6 Accused; Family To Approach Higher Court

There were six people who were previously named as accused in the mob lynching case were given clean chit based on mobile phone records and the statement of the caretaker of a cow shelter.

The prosecution will appeal against the verdict in the higher court. (File Photo/ Getty)

Pehlu Khan Lynching Case: The Alwar Court in Rajasthan on Wednesday acquitted all six accused in the Pehlu Khan lynching case which took place back in 2017. According to reports, the local court acquitted all the accused for want of evidence. The Additional Judicial Magistrate acquitted the six men, giving them benefit of the doubt, according to a lawyer. Pehlu Khan (55), his two sons and a few others were transporting cows when they were allegedly stopped and thrashed by cow vigilantes near Haryana's Behror area on April 1, 2017. The six accused let off by the court are Vipin Yadav, Ravindra Kumar, Kaluram, Dayanand, Yogesh Kumar and Bheem Rathi. Khan died in hospital on April 3. Additional Public Prosecutor Yogendra Khatana told reporters that the prosecution will appeal against the verdict in the higher court after studying the court order. There were six people who were previously named as accused in the mob lynching case were given clean chit based on mobile phone records and the statement of the caretaker of a cow shelter. The remaining three accused are minors and are currently being tried in a juvenile court. The lynching case was handed over to the Crime Investigation Department-Crime Branch (CID-CB) in July 2017. The CB-CID had on September 1, handed over its report to the Alwar police. In July 2019, the trial court had accepted a police application seeking permission to once again open the investigation in the case against the person who drove the cattle carrying truck and Pehlu Khan’s sons Arif Khan and Irshad Khan. The then BJP government in Rajasthan under Vasundhara Raje came under flak over the killing, with the incident escalating the debate over Muslims facing attacks from cow vigilantes. Recently, the Rajasthan Assembly passed a bill introduced by the current Congress government in the state to tackle mob lynching. This came months after the police filed a chargesheet against Khan’s sons, and Khan Mohammed, who owned the pick-up truck. The case was filed under Sections 5, 8 and 9 of the Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export) Act, 1995. The chargesheet in the case was submitted in a court on May 29. Expressing shock at the development, Khan's son Irshad, who was with him at the time of the assault, said had that the family would fight till the last breath to get justice. "This is betrayal. We heard the names (of the accused) when they attacked. How can they be given clean chit? We will seek an inquiry again," he said. Nine more persons continue to face charges in connection with Khan's murder. The police, so far, has arrested seven of these, of which five later got bail. Two others are absconding, officials had informed earlier. Khan and those along with him were attacked as the mob suspected them of illegally smuggling cattle.