Jaipur: A 55-year-old man died at a hospital in Rajasthan's Alwar district after allegedly being beaten by a group of cow vigilantes, with the police arresting three persons in connection with the case.
The deceased, Pehlu Khan, and four others, including his two sons, were beaten brutally by some locals at Behror who suspected they were smuggling cows, police officials said. Reacting on the episode, state Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria said it was "alright" if some people caught those who were illegally transporting animals but maintained that "no one has the right to take the law in their own hands", even as an NGO claimed the five men were thrashed in the presence of police and demanded action against the force personnel. The incident took place on Saturday when as many as 16 people were allegedly transporting 36 bovine animals illegally in six pick up vans.
They were on their way towards Haryana from Jaipur when the vigilantes intercepted two of their vehicles in Behror on the Jaipur-Delhi national highway. Pehlu Khan, his sons Aarif (22) and Irshad (25) were in the first van, while two more persons Ajmat (28) and Sharif (24) were in the second. All of them were thrashed and their vans damaged.
The remaining vans were stopped by the police in which 11 people were found and arrested under relevant sections of the Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export) Act, ASI of Behror police station Vikram Singh said.
The five men who were beaten were admitted to a district hospital where Pehlu Khan died on Monday night. The condition of the others injured is learnt to be stable, the ASI said, adding that they had not been placed under arrest so far. Following Khan's death, a case of murder was registered against six persons namely Om Yadav, Hukamchand Yadav, Naveen Sharma, Sudhir Yadav, Rahul Saini and Jagmal, while 200 other "unidentified" people were listed as accused.
Late Wednesday night, the Alwar police arrested three persons in connection with the case. "Three accused have been arrested tonight and the hunt for others is on," SHO Behror police station Ramesh Chand said. Home Minister Kataria said it was "alright" that some people caught those who were illegally transporting animals, while maintaining that "no one has the right to take the law in their own hands". Police will take appropriate action against those who took law in their own hands, Kataria said. NGO People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has demanded immediate arrest of those involved in the thrashing of Pehlu Khan leading to his death.
PUCL general secretary Kavita Srivastava also demanded the arrest of SHO Behror and removal of SP Alwar over the incident. She claimed that Khan and others had documents of the purchase of animals from Jaipur which they produced before the police.
"Members of VHP, Bajrang Dal and Hindu Jagran Manch thrashed them near Behror in front of the police," she alleged, while demanding action against the police officials.
