Rakbar Khan lynching: 4th accused arrested

The fourth accused has been arrested in connection with the mob attack on Akbar Khan alias Rakbar Khan on the suspicion of cow smuggling in Rajasthan's Alwar district last year.

According to police, the fourth accused 34-year-old Vijay Kumar, a resident of Lalawandi village of Alwar district, was arrested in Murtikala colony of Jaipur and later taken to Alwar. However, the fifth accused, Naval Kishore, is still absconding, police said.

"Two people had been absconding from last one year. Finally, we caught hold of the fourth person," said Alwar police superintendent Paris Deshmukh. The other three accused arrested so far are Dharmendra Yadav, Naresh Singh and Paramjeet Singh. They were arrested on the same day Khan was lynched.

Rakbar (Akbar Khan), was the third dairy farmer to be lynched in the Mewat region of Rajasthan. He was beaten to death by a mob of cow vigilantes on July 21, 2018, exactly fifteen months after Pehlu Khan was lynched.

On the night of July 20, Khan and his friend, Aslam, had allegedly purchased the cows from Ladpura village and were taking them to their village in Haryana through a forested area near Lalawandi in Alwar, when the accused, apparently affiliated to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), attacked them.

The fourth arrest in Rakbar Khan case took place a week after Congress government decided to constitute a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the lapses during investigation in the Pehlu Khan lynching case. The court of Additional District Judge had acquitted all six men accused in the lynching of 55-year-old dairy farmer Pehlu Khan.

The team, constituting three members, is headed by Deputy Inspector General, SOG Nitin Deep Blaggan. The other two members are SP CID-CB Samir Kumar Singh and Additional SP vigilance Samir Dubey. The SIT will be monitored by Additional director general of police (crime). The team has been asked to submit its report within 15 days.