Lynched under BJP rule in 2017, Pehlu Khan is now chargesheeted under Congress rule

Newsroom, Jun 29: The police in Congress-ruled Rajasthan has now filed chargesheet against Pehlu Khan for “cow smuggling”. Khan, a 55-year-old dairy farmer from Nuh district of Haryana, was brutally beaten to death by around 200 saffronite extremists in Alwar in 2017 while he was transporting cattle.

The chargesheet filed posthumously accuses Khan his two sons under sections 5, 8 and 9 of the Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export) Act, 1995 and Rules, 1995.

The chargesheet also names the owner of the pick-up truck that was used for transporting the cattle on April 1, 2017, when the lynching took place near Behror.

The latest chargesheet was prepared on December 30 last year, days after the new Congress government came into power in Rajasthan, and was presented in the court of the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate in Behror on May 29 this year.

The chargesheet accuses Khan and his sons under sections 5, 8 and 9 of the Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export) Act, 1995 and Rules, 1995.

The incident

Pehlu Khan, was a resident Jaisinghpur village, in Nuh tehsil of Mewat. On 31 March, he left his village for Jaipur to purchase dairy cattle. Khan was one of only 10 dairy farmers in his village, and he was hoping to increase milk production for the upcoming holy month of Ramadan.

On 1 April, Khan, along with six others, was returning from Jaipur to his village in Nuh, Haryana, carrying cows and calves. They were stopped near Jaguwas crossing at Jaipur-Delhi national highway by 200 cow vigilantes. Khan showed a Jaipur civic document as proof the cows had been bought for milk. According to Irshad, the son of Pehlu Khan who with him, "We had all the relevant papers to show that we were carrying the cows for dairy farming. We showed them the receipt of sale and purchase. But they were in no mood to listen to us. They tore our documents and attacked my father in front of my eyes."

Despite the documentation, Khan and others were dragged out of their vehicles. The mob beat them with rods and sticks. Pehlu Khan later died from his injuries, whilst others, though seriously injured, survived.

The perpetrators also reportedly robbed the victims of their cellphones and wallets (the victims said they lost Rs. 110,000).