3 Arrested In Rajasthan's Alwar After Man Killed For 'Cow Smuggling'

Two days after a second man was beaten to death in Rajasthan's Alwar on suspicions of cattle smuggling, three men have been arrested on suspicions of being linked to the case. The police said the men will be charged with murder.  

State lawmaker Gyandev Ahuja, has however, alleged that the man accused of cattle smuggling 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.

Rakbar Khan and his friend were targeted when they were seen taking home a couple of cows they had bought from a nearby village. The men, residents of a Haryana village, were walking through a forest area when they were targeted by the locals of Alwar's Lallawandi village.

The mob mercilessly attacked them with sticks and stones. The police, who were called in by a section of villagers, found the man severely injured. While being taken to the hospital, the 28-year-old died. His friend Aslam had managed to escape.

Dharmendra Yadav and Parminder Singh, who were at the spot when the police reached, were detained for questioning and then arrested last night. Today, on the basis of their information, the police arrested another man, Naresh Sharma. All the men are in their mid-twenties live in Lallawandi village.

The death of Rakbar comes more than a year after dairy farmer Pehlu Khan was killed in a similar fashion. The 55-year-old had been set upon by a group while he was taking home two cows bought at a cattle fair in April 2017.

A cellphone video, showing him being yanked by the neck, thrown to the ground and kicked, had evoked widespread outrage and had ripples in Parliament. The men accused in the case, whom Pehlu Khan had named in hi dying declaration, walked free last September.

The police said they were not at the spot during the crime and their names were removed from the First Information Report.

Pehlu Khan's son has accused the police of trying to protect the men, who he alleged belong to right-wing organisations affiliated to the BJP, Rajasthan's ruling party.