Pehlu Khan case: Court picks serious shortcomings in probe
Jaipur: All six accused in the Pehlu Khan lynching case got the benefit of doubt due to "serious shortcomings" in the police probe, the Alwar court observed while acquitting them on Wednesday.
The additional district judge (ADJ) said one such loophole was that their names were not in the statements given by Pehlu Khan and other complainants.
Acquitting Vipin Yadav, Ravindra Kumar, Kaluram, Dayanand, Yogesh and Bheem Singh Rathi, the court said they were not identified by the complainants, which needed to be done under Section 161 of the CrPC.
The court further observed that the accused were identified and charged on the basis of a video but the then investigating officer and Behror SHO, Ramesh Sinsiwar, failed to seize the device used in filming the incident.
The court also said Sinsiwar recorded the statement of Pehlu Khan in the hospital but he did not obtain any certificate from the doctor, mentioning whether the victim was in a condition to give the statement.
Also, the investigating officer presented the recorded statement to the police station 16 hours later, which was a serious negligence, the court order said.
Commenting on the probe by then Circle Officer Parmal Singh, who was handed over the case on April 7, 2017, the court said he seized the mobile phone of Ravindra Kumar, allegedly used for making another video clip of the incident, but the device and its memory card were not sent for forensic examination.
There was no document on record to validate the ownership of the mobile phone and the man who was presented as an independent witness at the time of seizure also turned hostile, the court observed.
Pehlu Khan (55), a resident of Jaisinghpura village in Nuh district in Haryana, was allegedly attacked in the Behror area on Jaipur-Delhi highway in Rajasthan on April 1, 2017.
He died during treatment at the hospital two days later.
In September 2017, the Rajasthan Police had given a clean chit to six other people--Hukum Chand, Om Prakash, Sudhir Yadav, Rahul Saini, Navin Sharma and Jagmal Yadav--who were named by Pehlu Khan in his statement before death.
They were given the clean chit on the basis of photographs, their mobile phone locations and the statement of those present at the crime spot.
Commenting on the verdict, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said on Wednesday that the government would file an appeal against the acquittal in the higher court.
"Our government enacted a law against mob lynching in first week of August. We are committed to ensuring justice for the family of the late Pehlu Khan. The state government will file an appeal against the order of the ADJ," Gehlot tweeted last night.
The Behror police had registered seven FIRs in connection with the incident, one for Pehlu Khan's murder and six for the alleged illegal transportation of bovine. The remaining six cases are at different stages of investigation and trial.
The chargesheet against the accused in the lynching case was presented in the court of the Behror ADJ on February 25 last year. The case was later shifted to the Alwar court. Initially, the case was investigated by the then Behror SHO, Ramesh Sinsiwar.
Later, it was transferred to the then Circle Officer, Parmal Singh. After that, the case was shifted to the CID-CB at the Jaipur police headquarters.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
