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A high-level inquiry has been ordered by Rajasthan Police to investigate the reasons for the alleged delay in taking victim of Alwar lynching to the hospital. The victim died en route to hospital after being allegedly thrashed by a mob of 'gau rakshaks'.
The Home Ministry has also sought a report from Rajasthan Government over the lynching case.
The Rajasthan Police officials who were the first responders on the scene have been accused by the eyewitnesses of taking the cows to shelter first and taking a tea break before taking the victim to the hospital. The reports about the alleged apathy by the cops has led to a massive backlash from public and politicians.
Reacting to allegations, the Rajasthan Police has formed a high-level team to probe the reasons for the alleged delay in taking to the man to the hospital. Director General of Police OP Galhotra said the team will find out why there so much time was wasted in transporting Rakbar alias Akbar to a hospital that was just four kilometres from the site where he was beaten up on Saturday.
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The team shall include senior officers NRK Reddy, PK Singh, Hemant Priyadarshi and Mahendra Singh Chaudhary.
The team has been asked to probe why if the policemen reached the site at 1 am, the victim was taken to the hospital only at 4 am, said a police official.
According to Naval Sharma, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's Gau Raksha cell chief in Ramgarh, the FIR says that the police reached the site at 12.41 am and the victim was taken by them by 1 am.
However, surprisingly, the police reached the hospital at 4 am. The postmortem report says the victim died at 3.40 am.
A social worker of the region, Vijay Kumar, told news agency IANS that Akbar and Aslam were taking bovines from the fields at midnight. When the animals cried out, some villagers came out and thrashed Akbar.
As it was raining heavily, Akbar fell on the muddy field and his companion Aslam escaped. By then, the police reached the spot.
However, as the victim was covered in mud, the police refused to take him in their vehicle and asked villagers to clean him.
The villagers poured water on him. Dharmendra, who was later taken as an accused by the police, brought clothes from his house.
Vijay Kumar says the policemen were drunk and they too might have beaten him as the victim had earlier records of cow smuggling.
According to him, when Akbar died, the police came to the village to arrest the witnesses to save their skin.
The cows, meanwhile, were shifted to a 'gaushala' at 3.26 am in a three-wheeler.
Alwar Superintendent of Police Rajendra Singh told the media: "We will investigate the matter thoroughly and take action against the accused."
Also read | 'Safer to be a cow than a Muslim', tweets Shashi Tharoor after Alwar lynching
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Centre seeks report from Rajasthan govt
The Centre today sought a report from the Rajasthan government on the alleged lynching of a man in the state's Alwar district on the suspicion of cow smuggling.
The Home Ministry asked the Rajasthan government to provide details of the incident, the action taken to punish those involved in it and the steps taken to restore peace, an official said.
The report has been sought as early as possible, the official said.
The lynching of Khan was also raised in Lok Sabha by a Congress MP, triggering protests from BJP members.
Political blame game on lynching
The death of 28-year-old Akbar Khan has become the centre of a new political blame game. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who recently hit the headlines with his controversial 'Hindu Pakistan' remark, said that the lynchings prove that it is safer to be a cow than a Muslim in some parts of India. While his party's president Rahul Gandhi slammed the ruling government at the Centre. He claimed that hatred had replaced humanity in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "brutal New India".
"Policemen in #Alwar took 3 hrs to get a dying Rakbar Khan, the victim of a lynch mob, to a hospital just 6 KM away. Why? They took a tea-break enroute," Gandhi said on Twitter today. "This is Modi's brutal 'New India' where humanity is replaced with hatred and people are crushed and left to die," he said.
Bhartiya Janata Party termed Rahul Gandhi a 'merchant of hate' for his statement. “Stop jumping with joy every time a crime happens, Mr Rahul Gandhi. The state has already assured strict & prompt action. You divide the society in every manner possible for electoral gains & then shed crocodile tears. Enough is Enough. You are a MERCHANT OF HATE,” Union Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted today.
(With inputs from IANS)
