AMN / JAIPUR
Rajasthan government has ordered a judicial inquiry in Rakbar death case. Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria said, evidence in the Rakbar Khan case suggested it was a custodial death and the state government has taken steps to get a judicial probe conducted.
He also said, an initial compensation of Rs 1.25 lakh had been ordered for the family of the deceased.
The evidence we have collected suggests death in custody. The time they wasted was the cause of death,” said Ghulab Chand Kataria. “After investigating we have found out that the cows were first dropped off at the gaushala (shelter). They shouldn’t have done that,” the minister added, bypassing questions raised about the possibility of Rakbar Khan dying after being beaten in police custody.
Rakbar Khan and his friend Aslam were attacked late on Friday night by villagers who thought they were smuggling cows. He was beaten with sticks and stones while is friend managed to escape. The 28-year-old was taken to hospital by the police three hours after the attack, by which time he was dead. On the way to the hospital, the police had arranged to transport the cows to a shelter, went to the police station and even took a tea break.
Naval Kishore, the right-wing member who initially informed the police about the attack and then accompanied them, had produced a photograph of the injured man sitting upright inside the police car. “I am saying again and again that these boys did not beat the man, the police also did,” he told reporters today, referring to the three men arrested by the police shortly after the attack.
According to the autopsy report, Rakbar died of shock as a result of his injuries. “There were injuries on the body… internal bleeding lead to the death,” said Rajeev Gupta, one of the doctors who performed the autopsy. There were seven-eight fractures on his body. Rakbar’s brother has said that he was beaten so severely that even his neck was broken.
Mr Kataria today visited the family and announced a compensation of Rs. 1.25 lakh – a first in the state where another man, a 55-year-old dairy farmer was beaten to death, allegedly by cow vigilantes, in April last year. The men he named in his deathbed confession have been released by the police, who claim they were not in the spot during the attack.