28-year-old lynched in Alwar was a 'cow Smuggler', claims BJP MLA

Alwar, July 21: Hours after a man was allegedly lynched to death on cow smuggling suspicions, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Gyan Dev Ahuja claimed that police had thrashed the man to death, and not the mob.

"The cow smuggler died on his way to the hospital. I demand a judicial inquiry to ascertain whether he was lynched by the mob or beaten to death by police," Ahuja told ANI.

The BJP MLA has also demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident.

He further put the blame on the police officials and said, "I had said that the public should inform police and not resort to violence. They slapped the cow smuggler a bit and informed police. Sources told me that police took the cow smuggler in custody and thrashed him to show the people that they are taking strict action."

Days after the Supreme Court asked Centre to consider framing a new law on lynching, a man was lynched on suspicion of cow smuggling in Rajasthan's Alwar on Saturday.

Akbar Khan, a resident of Kolgaon in Haryana, and another man were taking two cows to their village through a forest area near Lalawandi village in Alwar district last night when a group of people severely thrashed Khan.

In December last year, Gyan Dev Ahuja has threatened that 'if one engages in cow smuggling or slaughters a cow, he will be killed.'

Ahuja, who is an MLA from Rajasthan's Ramgarh, made the startling statement while speaking on the arrest of an alleged cow smuggler in Alwar district on Saturday. The man, identified as Zakir, was also allegedly beaten up severely by a mob before he was arrested.

This is not the first time that Ahuja has stoked a controversy. In 2016, Ahuja had said that daily 50,000 pieces of bones, 3,000 used condoms, 500 used abortion injections, 10,000 cigarette 'pieces', among other things, were found in JNU, where girls and boys dance naked at cultural programmes.