The body of 35-year-old dairy farmer Umar Khan, who was shot dead in Alwar last week while transporting cows, was buried in his native village, Ghatmika, in Bharatpur district on Thursday, a day after its post-mortem was conducted in Jaipur. Khan’s family gave its consent for autopsy after the police served a notice on his father.
A deadlock on post-mortem had earlier persisted for four days with the relatives of the deceased insisting on the arrest of all culprits, who were stated to be cow vigilantes, and compensation of ₹50 lakh. Police have arrested two persons and identified four other accused, while claiming that they were members of a gang of robbers.
Khan’s cousin Javed told The Hindu from Ghatmika that the last rites were performed after Zuhr (midday) prayers amid an outrage over the latest averment of Alwar police that the deceased was a “cow smuggler”. “We shocked by the claim of police. The police are in effect saying that it was a fight between two gangs of criminals,” he said.
With the State government remaining unrelenting, the village elders were deliberating on forming a committee to raise afresh the demand for relief, which may include a government job for Khan’s eldest son Maqsood. Besides, the medical examination of his two companions, who have been booked under the Rajasthan Bovine Animal Act, should be carried out without delay.
While the villagers will shortly meet the Alwar Superintendent of Police with their demands, a march of civil rights groups to the Chief Minister’s residence here on Wednesday failed to elicit any response. No assurance was given for payment of compensation and no officer has visited Ghatmika village since November 10, when Khan was shot dead.
The People’s Union for Civil Liberties accused the Alwar police of misrepresenting the facts around Khan’s murder, while alleging that an attempt was being made to take away the heat built against the State government for increasing crimes due to cow vigilantism. “Providing safety to Muslim dairy farmers is [now] a non-issue and the cow vigilantes have absolute impunity to go on with their killings,” it said.
The dismembered body of Umar Khan was found on railway tracks near Govindgarh in Alwar district last week, with his family alleging that a crowd of cow vigilantes had killed him. He was travelling in a pick-up truck to Ghatmika village with his two companions and some cows which they had purchased in Alwar.
