Rahul Gandhi condemns Alwar lynching incident

New Delhi: Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday condemned the alleged lynching of a man by cow vigilantes in Alwar, saying "when government abdicates responsibility and allows lynch mobs to rule, tragedies of immense proportion follow". He also termed it a "shocking breakdown of law and order" in Alwar, and said the government needed to take strict action against those responsible. "When government abdicates responsibility and allows lynch mobs to rule, tragedies of immense proportion follow. Shocking breakdown of law and order in Alwar," Gandhi wrote on his official Twitter account. "All right thinking Indians must condemn this blind brutality. We expect government to take strict action against those responsible for this brutal and senseless attack," he said. Meanwhile, three persons were arrested in connection with the death of a Muslim man who was brutally beaten up by cow vigilantes in Rajasthan's Alwar district, police said on Thursday. "We have arrested three persons in connection with the case under Section 302 (dealing with murder) of the Indian Penal Code while search for six others named in the first information report (FIR) is going on," a police official said. "We have identified the three on the basis of a video footage", he added. Pehlu Khan, in his fifties, died from his injuries late Monday night in a hospital where he was admitted for treatment. The incident took place last week on Saturday when as many as 15 persons were allegedly transporting cows illegally. Khan and others were injured when a mob attacked two of the vans transporting cows, police said. There were six vans. "We have also registered a case related to cow smuggling against 10 persons," the official added. Meanwhile, Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria said both parties are at fault. "In our state, cow smuggling is an offence," the minister said. "Police asked the people transporting cows to show legal papers, but they did not show it to them," he added. Kataria said "stopping cow smuggling is right but it is not right to take law in own hands".