Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot orders reprobe into Pehlu Khan lynching case, to appeal against acquittals also

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday ordered a fresh investigation into the 2017 Pehlu Khan lynching case and decided to follow it up with an appeal against the acquittal of all six accused in the case by an Alwar court two days ago.

The Chief Minister also set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the supervision of state's Additional Director General of Police (Crime) and decided to hire the services of a senior lawyer to guide the probe, besides preparing grounds for appeal in the case. The Chief Minister took the decision in a high-level review meeting held for examining the shortcomings in the probe and the findings of the court, said an official statement. Here are some tweets by Gehlot:

"On Friday evening, the CMO reviewed in detail with the high officials regarding the decision of the court in the case. During this, the events of this episode and the errors in the research were discussed in detail."

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The review meeting, chaired by the Chief Minister, was attended by Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Rajeeva Swarup, Director General of Police Bhupendra Singh, Principal Secretary (Law) Mahavir Prasad Sharma and Additional Director General of Police (Crime) B L Soni. 

"It was decided in the meeting to appeal the decision of the subordinate court, in which the services of a senior advocate would be taken. A three-member SIT will be formed under the supervision of ADG Crime to investigate the entire case. This SIT will submit its report in 15 days."

The SIT, set up on the Chief Minister's order, will submit its report within 15 days, the statement added. The Chief Minister's decision followed two days after an Alwar court acquitted all six persons, accused of leading a mob of suspected cow vigilantes to attack and lynch 55-year-old Pehlu Khan, a dairy farmer from Nuh district of Haryana. Khan was lynched near Alwar while returning to his home town in Haryana after buying cattle from Rajasthan.

"The SIT will also identify the errors and irregularities in the research and decide the responsibility of the officers for them. This SIT will also collect important oral and documentary evidences which were not collected in the case."

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Court acquits all accused in case

The Alwar court on Wednesday acquitted all six adult accused in the case, giving them the benefit of doubt. Three other juveniles allegedly involved in the case are still facing an enquiry by a Juvenile Justice Board. The government statement said the SIT will also identify errors and irregularities in the investigation and fix the responsibility for botched up investigation on individual officers. 

The SIT will also gather important oral and documentary evidence, left out or ignored in the earlier probe, it added. DIG (Special Operation Group) Nitin Deep Ballagan will head the special probe team, which will also include SP (CID-CB) Sameer Kumar Singh and ASP (Vigilance) Sameer Dubey.