Rajasthan HC quashes cattle smuggling case against Pehlu Khan, his two sons and driver
Jaipur: The Rajasthan High Court on Wednesday quashed a case against Pehlu Khan, who was lynched by cow vigilantes in April 2017, his two sons and a truck driver for allegedly illegally transporting cows for slaughter.
A single bench of Justice Pankaj Bhandari quashed the case under Rajasthan Bovine Animals Protection Act and and the charge sheet against the four, saying there is no evidence to show that the cows were being transported for the purpose of slaughtering.
The petition was filed by the truck driver, Khan Mohammed, and the two sons of Pehlu Khan.
It was contended by Advocate Kapil Gupta, appearing for the accused, that the criminal case was a sheer misuse and abuse of the process of law since there was no evidence that the cows were being transported for illegal purposes.
Gupta contended that the report of medical experts established the fact they were milch cows and calves were only a month old.
There was also a receipt from the local animal selling market that the cows were in fact purchased for rearing them in dairy, the lawyer submitted.
In his reaction after the verdict, Pehlu Khan's son Irshad told PTI over phone, "We are very happy with the high court's direction today to quash the FIR and charge sheet against me and my brother. We were not taking the cows for the purpose of slaughtering but we were attacked. Today, justice was done."
Pehlu Khan (55), his two sons and a few others were transporting cows when they were allegedly stopped and thrashed by a mob near Behror in Alwar district on April 1, 2017.
Khan died in hospital on April 3, triggering outrage over the murder and focusing attention on attacks by cow vigilantes.
An Alwar court had acquitted all six accused on August 14 this year, giving them the benefit of doubt. However, the Rajasthan government has filed an appeal in the high court against the acquittal.
After the lower court verdict, the state government had constituted a special investigation team (SIT) to identify errors and irregularities in the investigation and fix the responsibility for botching up the investigation on individual officers.
Khan and others were on their way to Nuh district in Haryana from Jaipur when the cow vigilantes stopped them in Behror on the Jaipur-Delhi national highway.
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Mathura boat capsize tragedy: Death toll climbs to 13
Mathura (UP)(PTI): With the recovery of two more bodies on Sunday, the death toll in the boat capsize incident in the Yamuna river in Mathura has climbed to 13, officials said on Sunday.
Search for three more missing persons is underway.
Superintendent of Police (Rural) Suresh Chandra Rawat said renewed search efforts led to the recovery of the body of a college student, identified as Dinki Bansal, near Devraha Baba Ghat and that of a man identified as Rishabh Sharma approximately 3 km away from the accident site.
The incident occurred on Friday afternoon when a boat carrying over two dozen tourists, primarily from Punjab, hit a floating drum of a pontoon bridge and capsized near Kesi Ghat in Vrindavan.
Most of the victims were from Jagraon and Dugri areas of Ludhiana district.
Teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) along with the district administration and local police were actively engaged in the search for the missing pilgrims.
However, strong currents of the Yamuna river and the significant depth of the water at the ghats are proving a hindrance.
Circle Officer (Mant) Sandeep Singh said the Yamuna river stretch extending from Keshi Ghat to Gokul Barrage has been divided into seven sectors.
The search for the missing individuals will now be conducted within this specific 20-square-km zone. A Station House Officer (SHO) has been designated as the in-charge for each sector.
Acting on the orders of the DIG (Agra Range), seven SHOs will oversee operations across the seven sectors of river Yamuna.
Giving details about the operation, Additional District Magistrate (Finance and Revenue) Pankaj Kumar Verma, citing NDRF officials, on Saturday had said although the search for the missing persons is currently focused within a 14-km radius from the spot where the boat had capsized, there is a possibility that they may have been swept much further downstream.
SHO of Vrindavan police station Sanjay Pandey said boat operator Pappu was arrested late on Friday night.
He is accused of failing to provide life jackets to passengers before allowing them to board the boat, and operating the boat at high speed. This resulted in the boat losing control and colliding with a pontoon bridge's drum, which led to the accident, officials said.
Police have registered a case and also arrested the contractor, Narayan Sharma, responsible for the repair work on the pontoon bridge.
Rawat said that on Friday evening, police registered a case under section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against the boatman Pappu (alias Dauji) and Sharma, and subsequently arrested them.
According to the case details, Pappu's boat did not have any safety equipment or provisions whatsoever.
Moreover, despite repeated pleas from pilgrims, Pappu operated the boat at high speed. By the time he realised the danger upon approaching the pontoons of the bridge, it was already too late.
Consequently, after colliding with a pontoon drum, the boat lost control and capsized. It has also come to light that he is among those operators who have not obtained the requisite license to operate a boat.
Sharma was carrying out the work of dismantling and reassembling the pontoon bridge without providing any prior notification.
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