A Timeline: Six Accused Given Clean Chit In Pehlu Khan Lynching Case

In April, Pehlu Khan, a dairy farmer, was brutally beaten up by cow vigilantes in Rajasthan's Alwar district. Khan later died in a hospital where he was admitted for treatment.

Khan and few others were injured when a mob attacked them while transporting cows in a vehicle on the Behror highway in Alwar district.

On Thursday, the Rajasthan police have given a clean chit to the six people who were named by Pehlu Khan as being responsible for his lynching.

Here’s a timeline of the case to bring you up to speed:

April 1, 2017: Pehlu Khan and few others were returning from Jaipur to his village in Nuh, Haryana, carrying cows.

Ø A group of cow vigilantes stopped them on Behror highway and started thrashing them over suspicion that the bovines were being illegally transported.

Ø Pehlu Khan was seriously injured and rushed to a hospital.

Ø His mates in the van also received injuries.

April 2, 2017: Instead of registering a case against the mob that thrashed Khan and his mates, Rajasthan Police register a complaint against Khan and his sons Irshad and Arif under the Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export) Act, 1995.

April 3, 2017: Pehlu Khan succumbs to his injuries at around 7 PM in the hospital.

April 5, 2017: Police file a murder case against the attackers and put a reward of Rs 5,000 for any information leading to the arrest of the suspects.

Ø FIR lodged against the gau rakshaks under IPC Sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint), 147 (destruction of property), 308 (culpable homicide) and 379 (theft). After Khan’s death, the police have added Section 302 (murder) as well.

Ø Police arrest 3 people in connection with the case.

April 6, 2017: Reports on Pehlu Khan’s statement given to the police start emerging.

Ø In the statement, Khan had named gau rakshaks allegedly linked to Bajrang Dal and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP).

April 7, 2017: The Rajasthan government submits a preliminary report to the Home Ministry about the incident.

Ø One more arrest made in connection with the case, taking the total number of arrests to 4.

Ø MHA constitutes a special team to investigate and arrest the culprits.

Ø The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issues notice to Rajasthan government in the lynching of Pehlu Khan in Alwar by cow vigilantes.

Ø Commission also asks Union Home Ministry to inform about the steps being taken to deal with such incidents in the country.

April 9, 2017: Alwar Police arrests 2 more people in connection with the case, taking the number of arrests to 6.

April 20, 2017: Vipin Yadav, one of the six people named in the FIR lodged after Khan’s death, is compared with freedom fighter Bhagat Singh by a self-styled god-woman.

May 3, 2017: A 17-year-old youth detained by the Alwar Police in connection with the Pehlu Khan lynching case.

Ø The accused, who is a school student, was identified on the basis of a video in which a mob is seen assaulting Khan and others.

May 11, 2017: Rajasthan Police changes the investigation officer (IO) in the case.

Ø The probe is taken away from the deputy SP of Alwar police and handed over to an additional SP of Jaipur rural police.

May, 2017: Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje breaks her silence over increasing mob violence. Says, “Mob violence is unacceptable and those found guilty will be severely punished".

June 12, 2017: Around 50 cow vigilantes target officials of the Tamil Nadu government transporting cows from Jaisalmer to their state, pelt stones at a truck and block National Highway 15 on suspicion of cattle smuggling in Rajasthan's Barmer district.

June 16, 2017: A CPI-ML worker Zafar Khan was allegedly lynched by civic sanitation workers in Rajasthan’s Pratapgarh district when he tried to stop the civic body workers from photographing women defecating in the open.

July 9, 2017: Alwar lynching case is transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department – Crime Branch (CB-CID). This is the third time the case changed hands.

August 31, 2017: Rajasthan High Court grants bail to 19-year-old Vipin Yadav.

September 13, 2017: Rajasthan Police gives a clean chit to six men accused in the killing of Pehlu Khan.

The police came to the decision based on statements of the staff of a cow shelter and mobile phone records, a daily reported.

Meanwhile, the closure of investigation and clean chit to the six accused in the lynching case, has sparked nationwide outrage across India. Below, we list some tweets on how people have reacted to the development: