We’ve killed 5 so far: Rajasthan BJP leader caught on camera admitting ‘lynching’; cites Pehlu Khan, Rakbar as examples

An FIR has been lodged against Gyandevn Ahuja, former BJP Rajasthan MLA, after he was caught on video allegedly admitting that his supporters have so far “lynched five people”.

The MLA reportedly made the remarks while on a visit to Govindgarh this Friday to meet the victim of an alleged communal incident.

“Panditji, ab tak toh paanch humne maare hain, Lalwandi mein maara, chahe Behror mein maara, chahe (unclear) mein maara, ab tak toh paanch hum ne maare hain. Is area mein pehli baar hua hai ke unhone maara hai (Panditji, we have killed five so far, be it in Lalwandi, be it Behror… It has happened for the first time in this area that they have killed someone),” Ahuja can be heard as saying in the purported video.

While the Lalwandi and Behror references were apparently to the lynchings of Rakbar in 2018 and Pehlu Khan in 2017, the “first such incident” Ahuja mentioned was a reference to the killing of Chiranji Lal by Vikram Khan and others, in what police believe was a case of mistaken identity following the theft of a tractor.

55-year-old Pehlu Khan was lynched in Behror on April 1, 2017. Similarly, Rakbar Khan died after being beaten up in Lawandi village in Alwar’s Ramgarh on July 20, 2018 on suspicion of cow smuggling.

The BJP leader is seen making the comment while interrupting a speaker, who was urging a group of people to launch an agitation against the lynching of 45-year-old Chiranjilal Saini. Saini was allegedly lynched by members of the Mev Muslim community on Sunday morning in Govindgarh town on suspicion of tractor theft. He died during treatment at Jaipur’s state-run SMS Hospital on Monday.

When contacted by PTI, the former Ramgarh MLA maintained his remarks, saying anyone involved in cow smuggling and slaughter won’t be spared.

Sharing the video, Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra said it has exposed the BJP’s true face.

“What more proof is needed of the BJP’s religious terror and bigotry? The real face of the BJP has been exposed,” he said.

Ahuja told PTI that he told the speaker that five Mev Muslims who were smuggling cows were “beaten up by our workers”. “It is the Mev people who smuggle and slaughter cow and Hindus have sentiments for cows, therefore, they target such smugglers,” he told.

Alwar SP Tejaswani Gautam told The Sunday Express that an FIR was lodged against Ahuja, “on the basis of a complaint by a beat constable who was present at the spot”. The FIR has been filed under IPC Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups, and acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and additional sections may be added during investigation, the SP said.

Ahuja has been an MLA thrice; in 1998, 2008 and 2013. In 2018, he was among a handful of leaders known for controversial remarks who were denied tickets by the BJP. In Ahuja’s case, then Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is also said to have opposed a ticket to him. In protest, Ahuja had quit the party and announced his candidature as an Independent. He withdrew his nomination after the BJP made him the state unit vice-president.