Cops took cows to shelter, had tea before taking Alwar victim to hospital

Alwar: Shocking details have emerged in the case of a Muslim man beaten to death by a mob in Alwar’s Ramgarh over suspected cow smuggling’ as eyewitnesses have alleged foul play by the police.

One of the eyewitnesses told news agency ANI that the police stopped outside his house and thrashed the victim.

It has also been reportedly said that the police delayed in taking the victim to the hospital. According to a report in NDTV, the victim was in police custody for three hours 45 minutes before he was taken to a hospital early on Saturday.

The two cows recovered from the victim were seemed to be the police’s priority. Instead of taking the man, identified as Akbar Khan, to the hospital, the police took the two cows to a cow shelter 10 km away a good one hour before Khan was brought to the health centre, dead, a report in The Times of India said.

According to a First Information Report (FIR), the police received a call about the incident at around 12:41 am from a right-wing supporter Naval Kishore. The police reportedly reached the spot at 1:15 or 1: 20 am.

While arrangements were being made for vehicles to ferry the cows to the shelter, the policemen headed out for refreshments. With the injured man complaining of pain, the policemen drank cups of tea from a nearby stall, NDTV report further said.

Naval Kishore has also alleged that Khan was taken to the police station first where the cops thrashed him which led to his death. He was later taken to Ramgarh community health centre at 4 am where doctors declared him dead on arrival, a report in Hindustan Times said.

On Sunday, the investigation in the case was handed over to an additional SP-rank officer by the Inspector General of Jaipur range, news agency PTI reported.

A third arrest was also made on Sunday.

"Naresh Singh, a resident of Lalawandi village, was arrested today. Police are on the lookout for another accused," SHO, Ramgarh Police Station, Subhash Sharma said. Two persons were nabbed by the police on Saturday.

Read: Third suspect arrested in Alwar after man killed for ‘cow smuggling’

Akbar Khan, a resident of Kolgaon in Haryana, and his friend were allegedly attacked when they were taking two cows to their village through a forest area near Lalawandi village in Alwar last night.

A profusely bleeding Akbar was taken to hospital but doctors declared him brought dead. Meanwhile, his friend managed to escape from the location.

Akbar’s father, Suleiman, also sought justice and demanded a swift probe in the case.

“We want justice. The culprits should be arrested soon,” he said.

Also Read: Want justice: Father of man lynched in Alwar on suspicion of cow smuggling

Earlier, Gyandev Ahuja, a state MLA, has also said the man died not because of beating by crowds but in police custody, to which home minister Gulab Chand Kataria has said the guilty will be punished.

The incident comes over a year after a dairy farmer in his 50s, Pehlu Khan, was thrashed to death by a group of alleged cow vigilantes in Alwar.