Alwar Police Charges Pehlu Khan and Companions With Cow Smuggling

Pehlu Khan, the dairy farmer who was killed by cow vigilantes in April 2017, has been accused of ‘cow smuggling’.

Khan and others were injured when a mob attacked them.

(Photo: The Quint)

Pehlu Khan, the dairy farmer who was killed by 'gau rakshaks’ in Rajasthan’s Alwar in April 2017, has been charged with ‘cow smuggling’.

Yhe second chargesheet filed by Alwar Police before the additional chief judicial magistrate of Behror court on 24 January charged Khan and companions under Sections 5,8,9 of the Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export) Act, 1995 and Rules, 1995, reports the Indian Express.

The four accused according to the chargesheet are Azmat and Rafique from Khan’s Jaisinghpur village of Haryana, Arjun Lal Yadav, the driver of one of the two pickup trucks and his father Jagdish Prasad, according to the Indian Express report.

The report goes on to say that the police had registered two cases for the incident — one against Khan’s assailants for murder and another against Khan and his companions for 'cow smuggling’.

Nine men have been charged with the murder of Khan after being identified from the video footage obtained by the police.

We didn’t get any documents…That’s why they have been found guilty of smuggling cows.

Harun Khan, head constable as quoted by <i>The Indian Express</i>.

Pehlu Khan was waylaid and beaten mercilessly when he was transporting cows to his small dairy farm in Rajasthan’s Alwar. He died two days later.

According to Irshad, Khan’s son who was with him during the incident, the financial condition of his family is very unstable. Frequent rounds to the court has cost him all the money his family had saved.

He claims that the cow vigilantes attacked him and his father even though they had all the legal documents.

One 1 April 2017, Pehlu Khan had left home with his sons to buy cows from the cattle in Jaipur Cattle Fair. On his way back, he was attacked by some cow vigilantes. He succumbed to his injuries a few days later.