An Alwar court on Wednesday acquitted all six accused in the lynching of Pehlu Khan, allegedly killed two years ago by a mob that set upon him while he was transporting cows.
The 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. He succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital on April 3.
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 Behror on April 1, 2017.
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 two FIRs registered in the case. One was against the mob for beating Khan to death and the second against him and his sons for allegedly transporting cattle illegally out of the state.
Although the case goes back to April 2017 when the BJP was in power in the state, the chargesheet was filed months after the Congress took over.
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.
(With inputs from Agencies)
