Siddhanta Mishra By

Express News Service

ALWAR: A day after an alleged cow smuggler was lynched in Rajasthan’s Alwar, local residents on Sunday claimed the police were complicit in the crime.

“I got a call from two persons saying they caught a man smuggling cows. I told them not to harm him, and immediately called the police. On reaching the spot with two police personnel, I saw Rakbar Khan (the victim) injured, but it was nothing life-threatening,” local Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Naval Kishore Sharma said.

Rakbar was given water to clean himself up, and put in a jeep headed for the Ramgarh police station, Sharma added. “But how did they take almost four hours to cover about 10 km?”

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Rajasthan police present the two men arrested in connection with the

lynching | Parveen Negi

The police stopped for tea on the way, at the entrance of Lalwandi village, a local said, adding that personnel were “kicking and abusing Rakhbar”. They reached the government hospital in Ramgarh at 4 am, according to the hospital records.

But before taking Rakbar to the police station to record his statement, and then to the hospital, the police arranged a vehicle for the cattle, to ensure their safety, according to the FIR.

“Around 1 am, my mother called me outside on hearing loud noises and someone abusing a person. We saw policemen kicking the man, who was lying on the road. They told us to get back inside,” said Devkaran, a sculptor who lives in Lalwandi.

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Meanwhile, the police on Sunday arrested another person, taking the number of people in taken into custody in the case to three. As per the FIR, Rakbar said he was “beaten by unknown people with sticks”.

One more arrested, suspects identified

The police on Sunday arrested one Naresh, taking the number of people taken into custody to three. “We have identified more people in the case”, they added.