Alwar Lynching: 'Eyewitness' Claims Police Took 3 Hours to Take Victim to Health Centre 4km Away

New Delhi: An Eyewitness in the Alwar lynching case has alleged that 28-year-old Rakbar Khan was dead by the time he was taken to a health centre over three hours after police were informed about the attack and at least two people accused the police of beating Khan - a charge denied by the Rajasthan police.

According to the post-mortem report released on Sunday, brutal assault on Khan led to fracture in the ribs that caused water to fill in the lungs. Khan's wrist was also found to be broken.

The victim was beaten to death in Rajasthan's Alwar on Saturday after a group of people suspected that he was a cattle smuggler. However, contrary to the prima facie report, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Gyan Dev Ahuja claimed that the police officers, who had arrived at the spot, took Khan into custody and beat him up in the police station.

"My sources have told me that the police took him to the police station and beat him up again just to show that they are hard on people indulging in cattle smuggling," he said, adding that there should be a judicial inquiry in the incident.

Naval Kishore Sharma, a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader, who claims to be an eyewitness in the incident, reiterated Ahuja's claim. Naval Kishore Sharma said on Sunday that the police took the victim to the hospital after three hours of the incident.

"I had informed the police around 12:50 am, following which a team of officers arrived at the spot. But they took Khan to the hospital around 4:00 am. The hospital is barely four kilometres from here," Sharma said. He further claimed that the police had arrested a "wrong" person in connection with the case.

The police say that any laxity will not go unpunished.

“During the investigation, if we find any administrative goof-ups, we will take necessary action,” said deputy superintendent of police Aneel Kumar.

Meanwhile, Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, who hit the headlines for linking the incident with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's growing popularity, claimed that his statement was misinterpreted by media.

"I again reiterate that my statement is completely misinterpreted by few sections of media. We deeply condemn the incidents of mob lynching & @HMOIndia has issued advisory to state government in 2016 n July 2018 for taking strict action in such cases (sic)," he tweeted.

Hours after the lynching incident, Meghwal had said, "The more popular Modi ji becomes, the more such incidents will happen. In Bihar election it was 'Award Wapsi', in Uttar Pradesh elections it was mob lynching. In 2019 elections it will be something else. Prime Minister Modi gave several schemes, their effects can be seen, this (lynching) incident is just one reaction to it."