A day after Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot said his government will see if investigation in the Pehlu Khan case was done with predetermined intentions, a civil society organisation has demanded withdrawal of FIRs against Khan and “fabricated” charge sheet against him and other dairy farmers booked for cow smuggling.

The civil society organisation, People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), stated in a release that it condemned the state government for filing charge sheet against Khan, saying the FIRs against him were “motivated”.

Khan and his sons were allegedly attacked in Behror on the Jaipur-Delhi national highway on April 1, 2017, when they were taking cattle from the weekly market in Jaipur to their native village in Haryana’s Nuh district. Khan died in hospital two days later. Police registered seven cases at Behror police station – six against Pehlu Khan and others with him on charges of cow smuggling under the Rajasthan Bovine Animals (Prohibition of Slaughterand Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export) Act, 1995; and one against nine people on charges of murder of Pehlu Khan.

PUCL’s Rajasthan president Kavita Srivastava said: “They were genuine dairy farmers and were carrying ravanna (acknowledgment receipt) of the Jaipur Nagar Nigam for the cows they were transporting. They bought the milch cows with the intent of selling milk. The PUCL has also insisted that the police take cognisance of their past milk sales records. It is clear that the deadly attack on them was because they were Muslims.”

There were seven deaths due to lynchings in Rajasthan between 2015 and 2018, with five taking place only in 2017, said Anant Bhatnagar, the Rajasthan general secretary of PUCL.

“It is shameful that dairy farmers have to face trial for false cases, when they in reality are struggling to make ends meet,” he added.

The PUCL demanded closure of all FIRs against 11 dairy farmers, who were caught by the “cow protectors” at Behror on April 1, 2017 while transporting cows from the same weekly cattle market at Ramgarh in Jaipur district. Not only were their cows taken, but they were also sent to jail. These 11 people too were from places close to Nuh.

Srivastava said the cows should be handed back to the farmers. “The cattle were sent to a private gaushala where they still remain, thus depriving the farmers of legitimate income,” she said.

First Published: Jul 01, 2019 14:17 IST