Gyan Dev Ahuja (Facebook page)
A week after Rakbar Khan alias Akbar was allegedly lynched in Rajasthan’s Alwar, BJP MLA Gyan Dev Ahuja said that if cow smugglers are caught, they should be slapped a few times and tied to a tree, and then police should be informed.
Speaking to reporters in Alwar on Sunday, the legislator said, “Thoda bahut isliye, pakda hai to do-chaar thappad mukka karke unko ped se baandh do, aur police ko suchana de do (If they are caught, give them a few slaps and punches, tie them to a tree and inform the police).”
Ahuja held a press conference on Sunday evening after he visited Lalawandi, the village where Rakbar was allegedly lynched on the night of July 20. The village is in Ramgarh — Ahuja’s Assembly constituency.
Speaking to The Indian Express over the phone on Monday, Ahuja said he wanted to appeal to people not to take law in their hands.
“What I meant to say was that don’t beat or assault cow smugglers severely. Instead, after 2-4 slaps, tie them to a tree so that they are not able to escape. Police should be informed after that. They will arrive and arrest them and will handle the legal proceedings. Nobody should take law in their hands,” Ahuja said Monday.
He also claimed that all three people arrested for the murder of Rakbar are innocent and have been framed by the police.
“People from my constituency have told me that the men who have been arrested were called to the spot and were told by the police that they were needed for registering an FIR against Rakbar and his accomplices. Later, the policemen framed these innocent men. It is clear that Rakbar died after he was tortured at the police station,” Ahuja said.
Ahuja demanded that the three men arrested be released immediately and a case of cow smuggling should be registered against Rakbar and Aslam, the two men who were attacked.
Ahuja, a three-time MLA, has a history of making controversial statements. In December last year, Ahuja had said that any person who indulges in cow smuggling or slaughter will be killed.
In 2016, he had claimed that thousands of condoms, hundreds of used abortion injections and liquor bottles were found on the JNU campus everyday.