Man beaten to death on suspicion of cow smuggling in Rajasthan

A 28-year-old Haryana resident was allegedly lynched in Ramgarh area of the district on suspicion of cow smuggling. The incident comes a year after a man, in his 50s, was beaten to death by a group of alleged cow vigilantes in Alwar.

Akbar Khan, 28, and another man were taking two cows to their village in Haryana through a forest area near Lalawandi in Alwar district on Friday night, when a group of people severely thrashed Khan, Ramgarh police station SHO Subhash Sharma said.

The people suspected that Khan was smuggling cows but the allegation is yet to be verified, Sharma said. The other man accompanying Khan managed to escape.

Khan was rushed to a government hospital in Ramgarh, where doctors declared him brought dead. The body has been kept at a mortuary and the postmortem is expected to be conducted after Khan's family members reach the hospital.

A case has been registered against unidentified people under IPC Section 302, the police officer said. Alwar IG Hemant Priyadarshi added that two people have been arrested in the matter.

Condemning the alleged lynching, chief minister Vasundhara Raje said that strict action will be taken against the perpetrators.

AIMIM



chief Asaduddin Owaisi slammed the Modi government, saying that a Muslim can be killed in the country "for they have no Fundamental right to LIFE". "Four years of Modi rule=Lynch Raj," he said.

The incident occurred just four days after the Supreme Court asked Centre to consider framing a new law on lynching. A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said that "horrendous act of mobocracy can't be allowed” and asked the Centre to make ‘lynching’ a separate offence and bring in a law.

Last year, Pehlu Khan, said to be in his fifties, was beaten up along with other members of his family by a group of alleged cow vigilantes on National Highway 8 in Rajasthan's Alwar district. Khan was being treated in district's Kailash hospital where he succumbed to injuries.

Over the past year, several such attacks have happened in Alwar. Cow vigilante groups have targeted people transporting cattle. Umar Khan, 35, was found dead near railway tracks in the district in November. His family members have alleged that he was killed by cow vigilantes.

A similar incident occurred in Uttar Pradesh last month when a frenzied mob allegedly lynched a 45-year-old over rumours of cow slaughter. The man’s friend was seriously injured.