A CPI(M) delegation comprising of Subhashini Ali, Polit Bureau member, Badaruddoza Khan, Lok Sabha MP from West Bengal, Shankar Prasad Dutta, Lok Sabha MP from Tripura, Amra Ram, CPI(M) Rajasthan secretary, Sumitra Chopra, Raeesa, Guru Charan Singh Mor, CPI(M) Rajasthan state leaders visited Behror, the place where ghastly attack of so-called gau rakshaks on peasants from Haryana engaged in milk production took place on April 1 in which one of them, Pahlu Khan, was brutally murdered.
The delegation first visited the police station of that place and met deputy SP Parmal who is the investigating officer. He said that on the 1st, before the incident in which Pahlu Khan lost his life, four vans with cattle had been brought to the police station and all the people had been arrested. They continue to remain in custody. Subsequently two more vans were stopped by a mob on the main Jaipur- Delhi Highway and the occupants were savagely beaten. He claimed that the police actually used force to chase the mob away and took the injured to the hospital. Except for Pahlu Khan, the others left the hospital next day and he died there on April 3.
On April 1, FIR’s were lodged against all those on the vans and also against the attackers. None of the latter was arrested. After Pahlu Khan’s death, section 302 was added to the FIR against the attacking mob. Six people were named along with “others”. None of the six persons named have been arrested. Three of the others had been arrested and one was arrested and brought to the thana in front of the delegation. The deputy SP also informed the delegation that none of the persons arrested or attacked had any documents to prove that they had purchased the animals legally and were transporting them legally. This was however proved to be a false statement because photographs of receipts have appeared in the press.
He also informed the delegation that a sum of Rs 25,000 was found in the victims’ pockets along with their papers which were in safe keeping of the hospital administration.
The delegation then met the district collector Muktanand Agrawal in Alwar. When the delegation discussed the incident, he admitted that whatever had happened was very wrong. He also said that those attacked were in possession of receipts for the cattle.
The delegation demanded:
1) Strong and effective measures to be taken against the vigilante groups, if so-called “Hindu Chaukis” are being established, they must be removed. All those participating in and supporting acts of vigilantism should be punished.
2) The administration should get all details of the purchases of cattle from the Jaipur Haatvada organised by the Jaipur Municipal Corporation. These receipts will certainly contain not only the names of those attacked but also their addresses, in which case it is for the corporation authorities to explain as to why they sold cattle to out-of-state people. This demand becomes necessary because the police were insisting that transporting cattle to another state without requisite permission is illegal. The necessary permission should therefore have been provided by the municipal corporation before making sale.
3) All the possessions of those attacked, which are in the hospital should be returned to them by the district administration.
4) All those accused of violence and murder must be arrested and the cases disposed of expeditiously.
5) The family of Pahlu Khan must be given compensation and helped in rehabilitation. Others who were injured shall be compensated and their livestock must be returned to them. Also they should be released.
