JAIPUR: The 55-year-old Pehlu Khan who was killed by gau rakshaks in Rajasthan’s Alwar district was actually a dairy farmer and not a cow smuggler, The Indian Express reported on Wednesday.
Last Friday, Khan, a dairy farmer went to Jaipur to buy a milch buffalo hoping to increase milk production during Ramzan, but paid money for a milch cow instead as the seller extracted 12 litres of milk in front of him, and offered a reasonable price.
After a good buy (which was according to Irshad was the worst decision ever), Khan along with his sons Irshad and Aarif and two others from the village was returning home to Jaisinghpur village in Nuh tehsil of Haryana’s Mewat on Saturday but was attacked by gau rakshaks, affiliated to the VHP and the Bajrang Dal.
Aarif recall how the gau rakshaks stopped their pickup trucks, dragged his father out of the vehicle and assaulted them with sticks and belts.
“My father was in a pickup truck with a Rajasthan number plate, along with Azmat, who is also from our village. There were two cows and two calves in the truck. Irshad, I and another villager were in the other pickup truck which had three cows and three calves,” said Aarif.
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There was no sign of the police till about 20-30 minutes following the attack, alleged Irshad.
Irshad, 24, however, showed the purchased receipt bearing a stamp of the Jaipur Municipal Corporation (serial number 89942 dated April 1, 2017) to The Indian Express after a complaint accusing of illegally transporting cattle for slaughter.
He said, “I don’t know how an FIR was registered stating that we had no receipt. I bought the cows for Rs 45,000.”
The vigilantes also robbed their wallets and cellphones and also money. Irshad reportedly had about Rs 75,000 whereas another companion lost about Rs 35,000.