Rajasthan govt issues advisory to police on mob lynchings

The BJP in Rajasthan has faced renewed criticism after a 29-year-old man was allegedly beaten to death late in July by suspected cow vigilantes in Alwar district, where three people engaged in the cattle trade have been killed since April last year.

Rajasthan’s home minister Gulabchand Kataria said on Friday the state government has prepared a blueprint to prevent the rising lynchings by mobs that include identifying sensitive areas, increasing the presence of the police and name nodal officers.

Asmina (centre), the wife of Rakbar Khan, 35, a resident of Kolgaon in Haryana, and others mourn the death of her husband who was allegedly lynched by a mob in Rajasthan’s Alwar district.(Sanjeev Verma/HT Photo)

The Bharatiya Janata Party in the state has faced renewed criticism after a 29-year-old man was allegedly beaten to death late in July by suspected cow vigilantes in Alwar district, where three people engaged in the cattle trade have been killed since April last year.

“A team of informers will be prepared to enable the police to respond quickly to the possibility of mob lynching in remote areas. The way to do this is to increase the police mobility in remote areas and for that, we will soon be issuing 700 motorcycles,” Kataria told the Hindustan Times.

“Then, the police officials have been asked to increase the vigilance and take preventive steps to ensure that such incidents do not take place ... It’s important is to establish a proper channel of communication between the people in remote areas and the police,” he added.

Police have admitted they made a mistake in handling the case after local officials were accused of taking Khan to the hospital nearly three hours after they found him. They were also accused of taking him to the police station initially and beating him up.

The state’s home department has issued an advisory to the police asking them to identify sensitive zones at the village level where such incidents have taken place in the past and increase patrolling there.

The advisory said district superintendents of police (SPs) should be made nodal officers to keep an eye on such incidents and that officers of the level of deputy superintendents of police will assist them.

The nodal officer will hold monthly meetings with local intelligence officials and police stations in-charge to take stock of the situation. The police will also keep an eye on the social media and take action in case of rumour mongering.

The advisory also states that police will have to register a first information report promptly and present a challan in a time-bound manner in case of any incident of mob lynching.

The director general of police (DGP) and additional director general of police (crime) have been asked to seek a review from nodal officers through video conferencing once a month.

The Supreme Court on July 17 asked the Centre to enact a law to deal with incidents of lynching and take action on mob violence.

The Centre expressed concern at the incidents of violence by mobs in some parts of the country on July 23, two days after Khan was lynched. It issued an advisory to state governments urging them to take effective measures to prevent incidents of mob violence and lynching and to take stringent action as per law.

“The State Governments have been advised to implement the directions issued in the matter by the Supreme Court on July 17, 2018,” it said.

Data compiled by the central ministry of home affairs show 45 people have been killed in 40 cases of mob lynchings across nine states between 2014 and March 3, 2018. The figures have gone up since then.