One arrested in connection with Himachal lynching case

Shimla: Himachal Pradesh Police on Sunday claimed to have arrested one of the five people accused of lynching an alleged cow smuggler two days back and said the remaining would be nabbed soon.

One of the accused has been arrested, DSP of Sirmaur district Yogesh Rolta said about the incident that took place near Lawasa village in Sirmaur district, about 150 kms from here, on Friday.

The arrested person, who is a local resident, is being interrogated to get more information about the incident and the persons involved in the attack and some more accused may be identified, he said.

Efforts are on to arrest the other four accused, he added.

28-year-old Noman Akhtar, a resident of Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, was lynched by a mob on October 16 while his four accomplices were apprehended by police with the help of local people after nearly four hours of chase of the truck carrying ten oxen and five cows in the forests in Sirmaur district.

One of the four, who was booked under Prevention of Cruelty against animals and admitted to the hospital at Rajgarh, has been discharged while three others have been shifted to hospital at Nahan.