Ashok Gehlot govt of Rajasthan orders re-investigation into Pehlu Khan case

Ashok Gehlot government of Rajasthan has ordered a fresh investigation into the Pehlu Khan lynching case, just two days after a court in Alwar acquitted all the six accused giving them the benefit of doubt.

Earlier on Wednesday, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said the state government would appeal against the verdict delivered by the court of an additional district judge.

Pehlu Khan had left his village to purchase cattle in order to increase milk produce for Ramzan. Heckled by a mob of cow vigilantes on the Delhi-Alwar highway on April 1, 2017, Khan tried to save himself by showing his purchase receipts, but was beaten to death with rods and sticks.

Six of the accused acquitted by the court are Vipin Yadav, Ravindra Kumar, Kaluram, Dayanand, Yogesh Kumar and Bheem Rathi. Three minors were also accused and they are facing a separate inquiry by a juvenile justice board.

The acquittal of the six accused despite a detailed video available of the attack on Khan, a dairy farmer, by vigilantes was received with outrage and shock.

Additional District & Sessions Judge Sarita Swami, in the 92-page judgment pointed to several lacunas in the police probe, finding among other things that the police did not properly seize the cell phones that had been used to record videos of the incident, did not submit the videos it did acquire to a forensic lab, did not get the witnesses to identify the accused.

The police also failed to correctly record Pehlu Khan’s dying declaration that would have had tremendous evidentiary value.