The lawyer of the injured men alleged that the police were going slow in the case. Instead of tracking down and arresting those who had beaten them up, he said, they were going after the victims.
Despite being injured, Rizwan, Ashu and Kamil were arrested and kept in the police station for nearly seven hours before being let off. They have been booked under the Prevention of Cruelty Against Animals Act after non government organisation People For Animals (PFA) allegedly submitted a complaint that cattle were being transported in a “cruel and inhumane manner”.
A separate case of causing hurt and wrongful restraint was also registered against those who beat up the trio but Ehtesham Hashmi, the lawyer of the victims, said the police were more keen on harassing them instead of looking for those who attacked them.
Jumping the gun
He also alleged that the police registered a case without obtaining the detailed statements of the three men and should have instead booked the accused for attempting to murder.
The police’s role also came under question as even after the arrival of the PCR staff, the mob allegedly continued attacking the victims and even boasted that they had been trailing them for some time. It is further alleged that members of the mob even misbehaved with the policemen who tried to intervene. That all of them managed to escape despite the police being there was also pointed out by Mr. Hashmi.
Bailable case
He added that the case against his clients was a bailable one and despite that the police ensured the process was delayed.
He added that even after bail was granted at Kalkaji police station, the police took a while to release them.
Meanwhile, PFA said their name was misused. In his statement, Gaurav Gupta of PFA claimed he was informed about the alleged illegal transportation of the animals by activist Vandana Sharma, who had noticed the truck while it was entering Delhi. PFA officials, however, denied the involvement of any of their activists in the attack.
“Anyone can use our name to do vigilantism at night. We have nearly 10,000 members in Delhi whom we have advised to inform law enforcement agencies if they notice cruelty to animals. We are still trying to find out who used PFA’s name for the vigilante act,” said Gauri Maulekhi, a PFA trustee.
