Alwar case appears to be custodial death: Kataria

Nirjhari Sinha (centre), chairman of the civil rights group Jan Sangharsh Manch, joins other activists at a protest against mob lynchings in the country, in Ahmedabad. Pic/AFP

Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria said yesterday that evidence in the Rakbar Khan case suggested it was a custodial death and the state has taken steps to get a judicial probe conducted.

He added an initial compensation of Rs 1.25 lakh had been ordered for Khan's family. "We've written to the additional chief judicial magistrate to initiate a probe," Kataria said at a press conference here. In cases of custodial death, a committee constituted at the district level takes decisions regarding compensation to the family members of the deceased, Kataria said. He said a sessions judge normally heads such a committee.

Kataria also blamed the police for the delay in providing medical attention to Khan. He said they'd prioritised the safety of cows over the victim. "It was not the duty of the police to send cows to cowshed first, they should have taken the injured to the hospital first. They wasted time... He could have been saved," said Kataria.

Post-mortem findings
Khan died of "shock as a result of ante-mortem injuries sustained over body", according to the post-mortem report released yesterday. "We the members of the medical board after careful examination of a dead body are of [the] opinion that the cause of death, in this case, is shock as a result of ante-mortem injuries... However, visceras are preserved to rule out intoxication prior to death or pre-existing disease," read a statement of three doctors.

The autopsy added that the 28-year-old suffered 13 injuries in all - eight bruises, two abrasions, a laceration, a fracture in the wrist and another in the left femur.

BJP MLA blames Meo community
Alwar (Urban) MLA Banwari Lal Singhal has accused people from Khan's Meo community of being involved in crime in the district, saying he had already banned them from his office. "The killing of Rakbar Khan has shocked the nation and it should be probed, but it's a fact that people from Meo community are involved in crime and Alwar is suffering."

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