2018 Rakbar Khan lynching case: Rajasthan court holds 4 guilty

Jaipur: A court in Rajasthan's Alwar district on Thursday found four accused guilty in the 2018 Rakbar Khan lynching case.

The court acquitted one accused as prosecution failed to prove the case against him.

Additional District Judge Sunil Kumar Goyal convicted Naresh, Vijay, Paramjeet and Dharmendra under Section 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint) and 304 IPC (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder).

The court gave a benefit of doubt to another accused, Naval.

It needs to be mentioned here that in 2018, Khan was beaten to death by a mob, purportedly comprising several Gaurakshaks, on the suspicion that he was smuggling cattle.

Special Public Prosecutor Ashok Sharma said, "Dharmendra Yadav, Paramjeet, Vijay Kumar, and Naresh Kumar have been held guilty under IPC sections 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 341 (wrongful restraint). Nawal Kishore is being acquitted on account of insufficient evidence against him."

He said the maximum punishment may go up to life imprisonment.

Rakbar, 31, between July 20 and 21, 2018, was transporting cows on foot in the night with Aslam Khan, 32, when they were allegedly stopped by villagers in Lalwandi under Ramgarh police station in Alwar.

Rakbar was severely assaulted and succumbed to his injuries a few hours later, while Aslam managed to escape. They were headed for their village Kolgaon in Haryana, nearly a dozen kilometres from Lalwandi.

Rakbar's death led to an outcry due to which the top police administration of Rajasthan, including the then Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria, had visited the spot and ordered a judicial inquiry.