My government didn’t name Pehlu Khan in charge sheet: Ashok Gehlot

Jaipur: Amid the row broke over Alwar lynch mob victim Pehlu Khan being named in a charge sheet, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday sought to clarify that the killed dairy farmer was not charged by his government.

Stressing that his Congress is “ideologically committed against any kind of lynching anywhere in the country and our government is vigilant to ensure it will not have happened again”, Gehlot, in a series of tweets, said that the “news reported in Indian Express is factually incorrect”.

“Name of Late Pehlu Khan is not there in the chargesheet submitted by Rajasthan Police in December 2018. This is a separate case which was registered and investigated under previous government in 2017-18 against (Khan’s sons) Mr Arif, Mr Irshad and Mr Khan Mohd (Transporter),

“.. since accused name in the chargesheet were not present at the time of the submission in December 2018, the District court accepted the Challan on 24th May 2019. However, our government will see if investigation was done with predetermined intentions,” he tweeted.

Meanwhile, Behror SHO Sugandh Singh said that a charge sheet cannot be filed against a dead person, and this one named all those who were with Khan at the time. After investigation, a final file was prepared on December 30, 2018 which was submitted in court on May 24, he added.

Asked if Khan was ever accused, the SHO said: “Those who investigated the case in 2018 can better reply if Pehlu Khan was declared accused in their probe.”

Pehlu Khan’s family was shocked at these developments.

His elder son Irshad said: “Our family is quite disappointed to know this. We were hoping that Congress government will withdraw case against us but its shocking to know that they have filed a charge sheet”.

“We were expecting justice from Congress government in state. However, this charge sheet has come like a shock.”

Khan was beaten to death on the Jaipur-Delhi Highway in Alwar in April 2017 while he and his sons were bringing cattle bought from a fair in Jaipur to their home in Haryana’s Nuh.

Published on: June 29, 2019 at 18:50 IST

IANS