Alwar again: Muslim man killed by cow vigilantes, Rajasthan minister says can’t stop every incident

Ummar Khan, around 42, was shot dead by the cow vigilantes after they stopped three persons who were allegedly transporting some cows.

In Rajasthan’s Alwar district, yet another Muslim man was shot dead allegedly by self-proclaimed ‘gau rakshaks’ (cow vigilantes) on the suspicion of cow smuggling while another person was badly beaten up on Friday. Rajasthan’s Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria today said his government cannot stop every incident.

Ummar Khan, around 42, was shot dead by the cow vigilantes after they stopped three persons who were allegedly transporting some cows from Alwar to a village in Bharatpur. As they reached near Govindgarh, they were stopped by the ‘gau rakshaks’ and attacked with firearms.

WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR:

1. The killing comes seven months after dairy farm owner Pehlu Khan was beaten to death in a similar manner in Alwar. One person has been detained for the murder of Khan.

2. “The body has been referred to a hospital in Jaipur for post-mortem examination. Only after that we will be able to know the real cause of death. We have filed an FIR against unidentified persons for murder,” Circle Officer Anil Beniwal told news agency IANS.

3. Beniwal said the body of the deceased was found near a railway track on Friday morning, and as it was not identified, it was kept in an Alwar hospital mortuary. The body was identified by the relatives on Sunday morning

4. “I don’t know who killed him, but he was not a cow smuggler. He had three cows of his own. We want justice for him. He was killed brutally,” Khan’s uncle told news agency ANI in Alwar.

5. Alwar Superintendent of Police Rahul Prakash said a case of cow smuggling had also been filed. “We have also detained one person on charges of murder. Investigations are going on,” he added.

6. Another person, who was with Umar Khan and attacked, has sustained bullet injuries. He has been admitted to a Haryana hospital.

7. When questioned on second such death in Rajasthan this year, Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria said, “It can’t yet be said what is actually the case.”

8. Kataria said the government does not “have enough manpower to control every situation in all cities in time”. He said action will be taken, “whether the accused is a Muslim or Hindu”.

9. Kataria said “six cows were found in their vehicle, including a dead one”. He said a case was lodged and later, a body was found which a family claimed belonged to its member.

10. Saying there is a “sense of lawlessness” in BJP-ruled Rajasthan, senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot said, “I am told that the Chief Minister (Vasundhara Raje) was in the same district when this incident happened. It is not for the first time that people are breaking the law with impunity. The fact that you can attack, kill someone and literally get away with murder is something that is happening in Rajasthan unabated.”