Rajasthan: Man beaten to death on suspicion of smuggling cows 

A 28-year-old man was allegedly lynched by a group of people on suspicion that he was smuggling cows in Rajasthan's Alwar district, a police official said on Saturday.

Akbar Khan, a resident of Kolgaon in Haryana, and another man were taking two cows to their village through a forest area near Lalawandi village in Alwar district last night, when a group of people severely thrashed Khan, Ramgarh police station SHO Subhash Sharma said.

Sharma said the people suspected Khan was smuggling cows. The allegation is yet to be verified, he said.

The IG, Jaipur range told ANI that the cows were sent to cowshed. 2 suspects were taken to police station from the spot & were later arrested after we found their involvement. Investigation is being done to find other culprits. Postmortem of the body is being done.

The other man with Khan managed to escape, he added.

Khan was rushed to a government hospital in Ramgarh, where doctors declared him brought dead.

The body has been kept at a mortuary in Alwar, the SHO said. A post mortem is expected to be conducted after Khan's family members reach the hospital.

A case has been registered against unidentified people under IPC Section 302, the officer said.

The incident happened a little more than a year after Pehlu Khan, a dairy farmer, was lynched by cow vigilantes in the district, He was transporting cattle to his village in Haryana.

Pehlu Khan died at a hospital two days after the incident on April 3 last year. He was attacked as the mob suspected him of smuggling cattle.

Over the past year, several such attacks have happened in Alwar. Cow vigilante groups have targeted people transporting cattle.

Umar Khan, 35, was found dead near railway tracks in the district in November. His family members have alleged that he was killed by cow vigilantes.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court had described the cases of lynching by cow vigilantes as a crime and not merely a law and order problem. It put the onus on the states to check such incidents, saying no one can take law into their hands.

In September last year, the apex court had directed all state governments to appoint a senior police officer as a nodal officer in each district to ensure that incidents of cow vigilantism are prevented and dealt with effectively.