'Alwar victim beaten by cops, not mob'

A day after a 31-year-old was allegedly lynched on suspicion of smuggling cows, a key informer quoted in the FIR claimed that the victim was thrashed to death by police, and not the mob.

Naval Kishore Sharma (43), a resident of Ramgarh whose name is mentioned in the FIR as an informer of the incident, claimed that Akbar Khan, alias Rakbar, was beaten to death by cops at Ramgarh police station. He said the two men booked by the police — Dharmendra Yadav and Paramjeet Singh — were innocent.

“In fact, it was Yadav and Singh who informed me that a mob was thrashing a man at Lalavadi village, and sought help. I called the police around 12.40 am on Saturday. I rushed to the spot with Ramgarh police officers. Upon seeing the police vehicle, some people ran away but Yadav and Singh stood next to Akbar, waiting for us,” said Kishore, a property dealer and gau palak (one who maintains cows) with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s Gaurakshak Vibhag.

“Akbar was drenched in mud. We took him out from the field. The police washed him with water from a well. Dharmendra Yadav helped by offering him fresh clothes. After that, the police took Akbar Khan to the station where some of them started thrashing him in the presence of assistant sub inspector Mohan Singh,” Kishore said.

“If the police were there to help him, why did they delay in taking him to hospital? They reached the spot at 1 am and he was brought to the hospital at 4 am in the morning. So where was he for three hours? The distance between the hospital and the lynching spot is around 12 minutes.”

Rajendra Singh, the newly appointed SP of Alwar, said action will be taken if anyone is found botching up the case.

Brought dead: hospital

Confirming the time Akbar was brought to the community health centre in Ramgarh, Dr Hassan Ali Khan, the doctor on duty, told DH, “Akbar was brought dead at 4 am on Saturday. The police brought him in their PCR van. We declared him dead and sent the body for post-mortem.”

As per the initial post-mortem report conducted at the Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Alwar, the reason behind Akbar’s death is internal bleeding.

Gyan Dev Ahuja, BJP leader and Ramgarh MLA, also claimed that police thrashed Akbar Khan to death, and not the mob. “Sources told me that the police took him into custody and thrashed him to show people that they were taking strict action, and that the public should inform police and not resort to violence.”

Read more:
Alwar lynching: third accused held
Alwar lynching:victim was sole breadwinner of family