Responding to the outrage caused by the inclusion of alleged cow smuggler Pehlu Khan’s name in the charge-sheet, CM Ashok Gehlot yesterday seems to have resorted to brazen lies claiming that Pehlu Khan’s name has not been mentioned in the charge-sheet.
News reported in Indian Express is factually incorrect. Name of Late #PehluKhan is not there in the chargesheet submitted by #Rajasthan Police in December 2018.
2/4— Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) June 29, 2019
The charge-sheet in the case related to the unfortunate lynching of Pehlu Khan was filed on December 30, 2018, 13 days after Congress formed its government in the state of Rajasthan. Asserting that Pehlu Khan’s name was not mentioned in the charge-sheet, CM Ashok Gehlot pinned the blame on the previous BJP government for the charge-sheet filed during his tenure and assured that the case will be re-investigated if any discrepancies are found.
However, OpIndia is in possession of the charge-sheet filed by the Rajasthan police in December 2018 which clearly mentions Pehlu Khan as ‘slain accused’. Below are the pictures that aptly demolishes the lie peddled by CM Gehlot.
The charge-sheet mentions Khan and his two sons- Aarif and Irshad along with the owner of the pick-up truck Khan Mohammed in which the cows were being transported as cow smuggling accused. A mob of self-declared cow vigilantes stopped the truck and allegedly thrashed Pehlu Khan and his sons while they were transporting the cattle to their native village in Haryana.
The charge-sheet has been filed under various sections of the Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export) Act, 1995, in the court of the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate in Alwar district’s Behror town.
Khan, 55, was transporting cattle along with his two sons after buying them in a cattle fair in Jaipur, to their hometown Nuh in Haryana on April 1, 2017. They were accosted near Behror on the Jaipur-Delhi national highway by the mob and beaten up with the accusation of smuggling cattle. Succumbing to his injuries, Khan died at a private hospital two days later.
Rajasthan BJP MLA Gyan Dev Ahuja asserted that Pehlu Khan and his two sons were repeat offenders of smuggling the cows across to Haryana. He also rejected the allegations raised against the Gau-rakshaks and Hindu Parishad.
Congress government in Rajasthan came under intense criticism from several quarters as the state police mentioned Pehlu Khan as one of the alleged cow smugglers in their charge-sheet in the case. It appears that Gehlot’s attempt to blatantly lie was aimed to assuage the outburst among liberals who are fuming at the inclusion of the alleged cow smuggler Pehlu Khan in the charge-sheet.
