JAIPUR: Police refuted Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria’s claim that there were three cases against dairy farmer Pehlu Khan who was allegedly lynched by cow vigilantes in Alwar district of Rajasthan.
“Anyone carrying cattle illegally is a smuggler. Pehlu Khan did not have valid documents. He already had three cases of cow smuggling registered against him,” Kataria had told the Assembly, sparking an uproar by the Opposition.
According to Indian Express report, Alwar SP Rahul Prakash said that there were no previous cases against Pehlu Khan.
“There were cases against Pehlu’s son Irshad but none against Pehlu,” he said.
There were two cases against Irshad dating back to 2011 — one each in Haryana’s Rohtak and Mewat districts, police said.
“Gulab Kataria has no right to occupy such a high post when he is misleading people and that too in the State Assembly,” said Sher Mohammad, chief of Alwar’s Meo panchayat.
“It was the same case lodged under different sections in two different police stations against Irshad for transporting buffaloes,” he said. “Irshad was bringing a buffalo for his cart when that case was lodged,” said Pehlu’s uncle Husain Khan.
The lynching incident occurred in Behror town in Alwar district when Pehlu Khan and four others were attacked by a mob of cow vigilantes while they were on their way to Haryana after purchasing cattle in Rajasthan’s Ramgarh on April 1.
55-year-old Khan succumbed to his injuries at a hospital on April 3 leading to massive outrage.
With PTI inputs