Jaipur: Stepping up pressure on the state government, the Congress state leaders met governor Kalyan Singh on Friday to demand CBI investigation into the death of Pehlu Khan who was beaten to death by cow vigilantes in Alwar district.Congress state president Sachin Pilot led a delegation comprising leader of opposition Rameshwar Dudi, ex-union minister Jitendra Singh, outgoing Rajasthan Mahila Congress president Shakuntla Rawat and others, to the Raj Bhawan to seek justice for victims of the April 1 incident that took place on national highway-8 near Behror. Khan and four others were badly thrashed by a mob suspecting them to be cow smugglers transporting bovines to slaughter houses."People who executed the inhuman act under the guise of being cow-protectors are linked with the BJP and its associate organisations," read the memorandum submitted to the governor by the state Congress. It added, "Rajasthan police's action and the state home minister's statements reveal that efforts are being made to protect the guilty."After submitting the memorandum, Pilot told reporters, "We have demanded that the case be handed over to the CBI to ensure fair investigation and justice to the victims." Pilot said, "Law and order in the state has deteriorated to an extent where no one fears in taking the law into his hand. State home minister (Gulab Chand Kataria) praising such vigilante groups is poor example of it."The Congress leader pointed out that the Supreme Court had to issue notice to five states, including Rajasthan, on a petition seeking ban on cow vigilante groups. Expressing surprise at chief minister Vasundhara Raje's silence on the incident that has hit national headlines, Pilot said, "Such incidents will make it impossible for the cattle breeders and dairy farmers to survive."The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) state unit, on the other hand, burned effigies of leader of opposition Dudi for demanding a ban on it and its associated organisation Bajrang Dal. VHP state head Narpat Singh Shekhawat issued a statement saying, "Dudi has termed the entire Hindu community as rioters, communal and terrorists. This has hurt the Hindu sentiments and he should apologise."In reaction, Dudi said that VHP and Bajrang Dal were not true representatives of the Hindus. "To hide their own crimes, VHP and Bajrang Dal are shielding behind Hindus. They are not true cow protectors either, Dudi said. He added, "I am son of a farmer and have cows. I have worked for cow-shelters. How many VHP and Bajrang Dal members have cows? They just do politics over cows."

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