Killing of Ummar Khan
| Date | 10 November 2017 |
|---|---|
| Location | Govindgarh area |
| District | Alwar |
| State | Rajasthan |
| Coordinates | 27.5047°N 76.9988°E View on OpenStreetMap |
| Victims |
|
| Killed | 1 |
| Injured | 1 |
| Alleged trigger | Cattle transport |
| Allegation | Men transporting cows by pickup truck from Alwar towards Bharatpur were stopped by a group described by the family as cow vigilantes |
| Legal status | Eight men arrested by January 2018 on charges including murder; no trial outcome found in published reports |
Ummar Khan (also spelled Umar Khan), a 35-year-old man from Ghatmika village in Bharatpur district, Rajasthan, was killed on 10 November 2017 while transporting cows by pickup truck through Alwar district.[1][2] His family alleged that cow vigilantes shot him and left his body on railway tracks near Ramgarh, and police arrested eight men in the case by January 2018.[3][4]
Background
Ummar Khan lived in Ghatmika village in Pahari tehsil of Bharatpur district.[2] The killing took place in Alwar district, where dairy farmer Pehlu Khan had been lynched by suspected cow vigilantes in April 2017, an incident that drew national attention.[1][5] Members of the Meo Muslim community gathered outside the Alwar district hospital after Ummar Khan's death to demand action against the attackers.[1]
Incident
On 10 November 2017 Ummar Khan was travelling in a pickup truck with two companions, Tahir and Javed, carrying cows from Alwar towards Bharatpur.[1][3] His uncle said a group of about seven men stopped the vehicle after it entered the Govindgarh area and fired at Khan, and that the attackers described themselves as cow vigilantes.[1] Tahir Khan, who received a bullet injury, told relatives that six to eight people had attacked them on their way home.[3]
Police found an abandoned pickup truck near Govindgarh on the morning of 10 November with five cows, one of them dead.[1] Khan's body was found near railway tracks in the Ramgarh area of Alwar district and was later identified by relatives.[1][3] The family alleged that the attackers placed the body on the tracks to make the death appear accidental.[5]
Investigation and legal proceedings
Police registered a murder case on a complaint by Khan's relatives and, separately, a cow smuggling case against Khan, Tahir and Javed.[3] Two men were arrested on 13 November; according to the Additional Superintendent of Police, they said they had suspected the truck was carrying cows, threw nails in its path, and claimed its occupants fired first.[5] Alwar Superintendent of Police Rahul Prakash said there was "no term like cow vigilante" in police vocabulary and that it was a murder case.[3]
On 20 November 2017 police arrested Tahir and Javed under the Rajasthan bovine animal protection act, and a court sent them to judicial custody; a police officer said the arrests were unrelated to the murder case.[2] In January 2018 police arrested four more men, bringing the number of arrests in the murder case to eight, on charges including rioting, murder and attempt to murder.[4] No report of a trial outcome was found.
Reactions
Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria said the state did not have enough manpower to control every situation in time.[5] Congress leaders Sachin Pilot and Ashok Gehlot criticised the state government and called for a fair investigation, and AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi sought an impartial inquiry.[5] A group of non-governmental organisations led by the People's Union for Civil Liberties described the arrest of Tahir and Javed as a "travesty of justice" and called them eyewitnesses and victims.[2]
Aftermath
The body was moved to SMS Hospital in Jaipur, where a hospital official said the post-mortem examination could not proceed because family members had not turned up.[3] Khan's uncle demanded compensation of Rs 50 lakh for the family and Rs 25 lakh for Tahir Khan.[3] Khan was buried on 15 November 2017 after the post-mortem.[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 "Rajasthan: Vigilantes allegedly kill Muslim man in Alwar for transporting cows". Scroll.in. 12 November 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Yash Goyal. "Alwar killing: Ummar's companions arrested for cattle smuggling". The Tribune. 22 November 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 "Alwar killing: Two held; cow smuggling case against Umar Khan, two others". The Week (PTI). 14 November 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "4 Arrested in Connection with Killing of 'Cow Smuggler' in Alwar". The Quint (PTI). 6 January 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 "Two 'Gau Rakshaks' Confess to Killing Umar Khan in Alwar: Report". The Quint. 12 November 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2026.