My son was not a cow smuggler: lynching victim's dad

"My son was a cattle rearer not a cow smuggler. We own four cows and literally pray to them", said a teary-eyed Sulaiman Khan, father of 31-year-old Akbar Khan, who was lynched by a mob in Alwar district's Ramgarh late on Friday night on suspicion of cow smuggling.

Devastated after Akbar's death, Sulaiman told DH, "It is impossible for me to believe that my son is no more. He left home on Thursday at 9 am with his friend Aslam to rear the cattle in the nearby village. We kept waiting for him but he did not arrive. It was in the morning that we came to know that he has been killed after the Ramgarh Police informed us. Everyone at our house is devastated and cannot accept that he is no more".

Akbar's friend Aslam, who was accompanying the former, is still missing. Both were residents of Kolgaon village situated alongside the Alwar- Haryana border.

Dismissing the allegations that his son was a cow smuggler, Sulaiman said, "Had he been into smuggling the police would have recovered a lorry or a truck near the place of incident. But just because two cows were found near his body does not justify that he was a smuggler".

"We are taking our son's body from the morgue here. But we request the police to arrest all those involved in his killing and give them the harsh punishment," he added.