Express News Service
ALWAR: Three days after alleged cow smuggler Rakbar Khan died following an assault by a vigilante group, Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria on Tuesday recommended a judicial probe saying there was prima facie evidence of custodial death. Akbar may have lived had the police taken him to the hospital immediately, Kataria agreed. “All information we have till now points towards his death in police custody. Keeping an injured victim in the police station was a clear error of judgement. So was taking the cattle to the shelter before shifting Rakbar to the hospital,” Kataria told the media after visiting the crime scene in Lalawandi village of Ramgarh in Alwar.
“We have written to the additional chief judicial magistrate to initiate a probe,” Kataria said. “Whether or not anyone is a cow smuggler, killing cannot be justified,” he added. Kataria was accompanied by Chief Secretary D B Gupta and Director General of Police O P Galhotra. He also met the victim’s family. They will get an initial compensation of rs1.25 lakh.
The developments came on a day when the autopsy report pointed to death due to shock as the body had 13 injuries from a “blunt weapon or object”. Also, 750 ml of blood was found in his left lung, indicating internal bleeding. He had two broken ribs and a fractured arm.
