JAIPUR (PTI): Four accused in the 2018 Rakbar Khan mob lynching case were sentenced to seven years of imprisonment by a court in Rajasthan's Alwar. One accused, Naval Kishor Sharma, a member of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, was acquitted in the case due to lack of evidence.

Rakbar Khan was lynched to death in Rajasthan's Alwar district in 2018 on suspicion of cow smuggling.

Rakbar Khan and his friend Aslam were beaten up severely by a group of people on suspicion of cow smuggling in an area under the Ramgarh police station area in Alwar district on July 20, 2018.

They had allegedly purchased the cows from Ladpura village and were taking them to their village in Haryana through a forested area near Lalawandi village when they were attacked by the accused.

Aslam had managed to escape but Khan succumbed to injuries at the hospital.

Police had filed a charge sheet against Paramjeet Singh, Naresh Sharma, Vijay Kumar and Dharmendra Yadav in 2019, whereas  Naval Kishor Sharma, a member of Vishwa Hindu Parishad was arrested later and charged with inciting the mob.

Hearing the matter, the additional district judge court-1 held four accused guilty under Indian Penal Code sections 341 (wrongful restraint) and 304(1) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder, Public Prosecutor Ashok Sharma said.

The court sentenced them to seven years imprisonment, he said and added that Naval Kishor was acquitted due to lack of sufficient evidence.

The post-mortem report of Khan said that he succumbed to multiple injuries following the brutal attack. Rakbar Khan's lynching triggered a debate across the political spectrum.