New Delhi: Days after alleged lynching of 28-year-old Rakbar by a cow vigilante group in Alwar, four policemen faced action on Monday amid complaints of lapses on their part, even as the Central government sought a report from the state and the Supreme Court agreed to hear a contempt plea against the Vasundhara Raje-led BJP government in Rajasthan for failing to check such incidents.

Besides, the police has formed a special committee to probe allegations that Rakbar was beaten by policemen too and that there was a delay in taking him to hospital, officials said. While the Union Home Ministry sought a report from the state on the incident, a political slugfest ensued between the Congress and the BJP — inside and outside Parliament — with the Congress President Rahul Gandhi alleging that hatred has replaced humanity in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Brutal New India' and the saffron party returning the charge by calling the opposition leader a “merchant of hate” indulging in “vulture politics” whenever a crime happens.





The police has arrested three persons suspected to be involved in the attack on Rakbar, alias Akbar Khan, even as a video surfaced on Monday purportedly showing an assistant sub-inspector admitting to his mistake for alleged delay in taking the victim to hospital. Within hours, the four-member panel ordered suspension of the then officer in-charge and transferred three others to police lines.

“There was an error in judgement in trying to respond to the situation. The preliminary investigation suggests there was an error in prioritising the situation,” Special DGP (law and order) NRK Reddy, a member of the committee, said at a press conference in Alwar while announcing the action against the four policemen. The panel will also probe whether Rakbar became a victim of police beating on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday and appropriate action would be taken if any lapses were found in the enquiry report, the state DGP said.

While two persons, Dharmendra Yadav and Paramjeet Singh, were arrested on Saturday, the third accused, Naresh Singh, was arrested on Sunday and they are under police custody for five days, police officials said. In Delhi, the Supreme Court agreed to hear on August 28 the pleas seeking contempt action against the Rajasthan government in this case.