After a court in Alwar acquitted all six men accused of lynching Pehlu Khan, the Rajasthan government, led by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on August 16 ordered a fresh investigation into the case.
A Special Investigation Team under the supervision of state’s additional director-general of police (crime) was set up with a senior lawyer to guide the investigation.
As per the media sources, the decision was taken following a high-level review meeting chaired by the chief minister to check if the case was properly investigated and fix the responsibility for botched up investigation.
The SIT will submit its report within 15 days.
Court Acquit All Six
Earlier on 14th August, Wednesday, an Alwar court acquitted all the six accused of leading a mob in the lynching case on the benefit of the doubt.
The other three juveniles allegedly involved are in the case still facing enquiry by a Juvenile Justice Board.
What’s The Case
On April 1 in 2017, Khan, a 55-year-old dairy farmer from Haryana’s Nuh, was beaten up by self-styled cow vigilantes near Behror in Rajasthan on the Delhi-Alwar highway.
He succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital two days later.
Anti-Lynching Bill
The Rajasthan Assembly had on August 5, passed an anti-lynching bill that provides life imprisonment and heavy fines to those convicted in mob lynching incidents after speedy trials.