Two years after Haryana resident Pehlu Khan was lynched by cow vigilantes in Rajasthan's Alwar district, police have filed a chargesheet against his two sons and a truck operator for illegally transporting cattle.
Amid the row over the latest charge sheet, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot Saturday distanced himself from any role in the investigation and said Pehlu Khan was not named in the chargesheet, as was reported by the media earlier.
"Investigation into the case was done during the BJP rule. If any discrepancy is found, we will get the case re-investigated," Gehlot 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. He also said that Pehlu Khan's name is "not there in the chargesheet" filed by the police last December.
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.
55-year-old dairy farmer Pehlu Khan, a native of Nuh in Haryana, was allegedly beaten up by self-styled cow vigilantes near Behror in Rajasthan on the Delhi-Alwar highway on April 1, accusing him of smuggling cattle. He succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital on April 3.
There were two FIRs registered in the case. One was against the mob for beating Khan to death and second against him and his sons for allegedly transporting cattle illegally out of the state. The latest chargesheet pertains to the second case.
Although the case goes back to April 2017 when the BJP was in power in the state, the charge sheet 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 charge sheet.
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.
Criticising the Congress over the charge sheet, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, in a tweet, said Muslims of Rajasthan must "start developing their own independent political platform" and said Congress is a "replica" of the BJP.
The Rajasthan Police had 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.
The police had earlier given a clean chit to the six people accused of lynching Khan. The police's decision was reportedly based on statements of the staff of a cow shelter and mobile phone records.
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.
(With inputs from Agencies)
