2018 Rakbar Khan lynching: Four get seven-year RI, one acquitted

Jaipur, May 25 (IANS) A local court in Rajasthan's Alwar district on Thursday convicted four of the five accused in the 2018 Rakbar Khan mob lynching case.

While pronouncing the four guilty, Special Public Prosecutor Ashok Sharma said, "Dharmendra Yadav, Paramjit, Vijay Kumar, and Naresh have been held guilty under IPC sections 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 341 (wrongful restraint).

"Naval Kishore is being acquitted on account of insufficient evidence against him."

The four convicts have been sent to seven years' imprisonment besides a fine of Rs 10,000 each.

A large number of people had gathered outside the court ahead of the verdict. Security was beefed up with police from several police stations deployed in and around the court.

Advocate Ashok Sharma of the aggrieved party said that on the night of July 20-21, 2018, near Lalawandi village of Ramgarh, Rakbar alias Akbar, 31, a resident of Kolgaon, Haryana, was transporting cows with Aslam Khan, 32, when the villagers surrounded and beat them up.

While Aslam managed to escape, Rakbar was injured and succumbed to his injuries in Ramgarh CHC.

The court has found the accused Paramjit, Dharmendra, Naresh and Vijay Kumar guilty under section 341 and 304 part one.

All these accused were out on bail on the orders of the High Court.

As the court's decision came earlier in the day, the four accused were taken into police custody.

Meanwhile, some people raised slogans against the Gehlot government and Ramgarh MLA Safia Khan.