Lynching of Rakbar Khan: Difference between revisions

{{Incident infobox

|date=2018-07-20

|lat=27.5645

|lon=76.8404

|killed=1

|injured=0

|trigger=cattle transport

}}

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'''Rakbar Khan''', a 28-year-old man from Kolgaon in Nuh, [[Haryana]], was attacked by a mob on suspicion of cow smuggling near Lalawandi village in Alwar district, [[Rajasthan]], on the night of 20–21 July 2018, and died before reaching hospital.<ref name="scroll-jul2018" /><ref name="tribune-2023" /> Police were criticised for taking about three hours to bring him to hospital.<ref name="scroll-jul2018" /> In May 2023 an Alwar court convicted four men of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and sentenced them to seven years in prison.<ref name="tribune-2023" /><ref name="outlook-2023" />

Rakbar Khan and his friend Aslam Khan were walking two cows from a village in Alwar district to their home in Kolgaon, Nuh, when a group of villagers attacked them in the Lalawandi area under Ramgarh police station on the night of 20 July 2018.<ref name="tribune-2023" /><ref name="outlook-2023" /><ref name="scroll-sep2018b" /> Aslam escaped, while Rakbar was beaten.<ref name="tribune-2023" />

Police were informed by a phone call logged at 12:41 am, but hospital records showed that Rakbar reached the community health centre in Ramgarh at about 4 am, where he was declared brought dead.<ref name="scroll-jul2018" /> The caller, a local Vishwa Hindu Parishad cow protection cell leader, said police had stopped for tea on the way to hospital, and witnesses told NDTV and The Indian Express that they saw police beating Rakbar while he was alive.<ref name="scroll-jul2018" />

A four-member committee of senior police officers investigated the alleged delay, and an assistant sub-inspector who admitted there had been a delay was suspended while three other personnel were transferred.<ref name="scroll-jul2018" /><ref name="scroll-sep2018" /> In September 2018 police filed a chargesheet before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate in Ramgarh, charging three men with murder and naming a fourth who had not been arrested; police said investigation against two others was pending and did not describe the case as a mob lynching.<ref name="scroll-sep2018" />

Rakbar Khan's father petitioned the Supreme Court to transfer the trial out of Rajasthan, alleging that a BJP legislator from Alwar was influencing the investigation, and the court agreed in September 2018 to hear the plea.<ref name="scroll-sep2018b" /> The trial was held in Alwar.<ref name="tribune-2023" />

On 25 May 2023 Additional District and Sessions Judge Sunil Kumar Goyal in Alwar convicted Dharmendra Yadav, Paramjeet, Vijay Kumar and Naresh Kumar under Indian Penal Code sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 341 (wrongful restraint), and sentenced each to seven years in prison.<ref name="outlook-2023" /><ref name="tribune-2023" /> The court acquitted the fifth accused, the person who had called police, for lack of sufficient evidence.<ref name="outlook-2023" /><ref name="scroll-2023" /> The four convicted men had been on bail and were taken into custody.<ref name="outlook-2023" />

The Ministry of Home Affairs sought a report from the Rajasthan government, and state minister Gulab Chand Kataria said action would follow if police delay was confirmed.<ref name="scroll-jul2018" /> Director General of Police O. P. Galhotra said appropriate action would be taken if the inquiry found lapses, and BJP MLA Gyan Dev Ahuja demanded a judicial inquiry.<ref name="scroll-jul2018" />

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<ref name="scroll-jul2018">{{Cite news|url=https://amp.scroll.in/latest/887568/scroll_in|title=Rajasthan: Police face questions over conduct in Alwar lynching case, probe moved outside town|publisher=Scroll.in|date=2018-07-23|access-date=2026-10-31}}</ref>