The Congress government in Rajasthan has filed an appeal in the High Court against the acquittal of all six accused in the Pehlu Khan lynching case, PTI reported on Friday. “The appeal was filed in the Rajasthan High Court on Monday,” Additional Advocate General RP Singh said.

A court in Alwar had on August 14 acquitted Vipin Yadav, Ravindra Kumar, Kaluram, Dayanand, Yogesh Kumar and Bheem Rathi, citing a lack of evidence. Soon after the verdict, the Rajasthan government had announced that it would challenge the order. The chief minister had set up a three-member special investigation team to hold a fresh inquiry and examine the previous investigation to find if there were any lapses.

The SIT pointed out loopholes by each of the four investigating officers in the case. The SIT said that the six accused should also have been charged with dacoity, rioting and rioting armed with a deadly weapon in addition to murder. The team was constituted also to identify important evidence that was either not gathered during investigation or not presented properly during the trial.

Khan was killed in April 2017 after being attacked by cow vigilantes near Behror on the Jaipur-Delhi national highway. The 55-year-old dairy farmer was transporting cows to his hometown Nuh in Haryana on April 1 after buying them at a cattle fair in Jaipur. The mob of cow vigilantes had waylaid Khan and his son and accused them of smuggling cattle even though he produced papers to prove that the consignment was legal. Khan had died at a private hospital two days later.

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