19-year-old held in Alwar killing case

Beniwal added that Dev was part of the gang which allegedly opened fire on Ummar and his two companions Tahir and Javed.

“Preliminary investigation suggests that Dev was working on his farm on the night of the attack when he was called by the other men who planned the crime. He was present at the spot when Ummar was murdered,” said Beniwal. He denied that Dev was associated with any cow protection group.

The police said that Dev was presented in court on Friday and was sent to judicial custody. The police had earlier arrested two men — Ramveer Gujjar and Bhagwan Singh — for the attack. The two arrested men had identified themselves as gau rakshaks and confessed to the murder, police had said.

“All the accused men are residents of Gahankar and Marakpur, two villages very close to Govindgarh and situated on the Alwar-Bharatpur border,” said Beniwal.

Earlier, the police had claimed that Ummar and his two companions were smuggling cattle at the time of the attack and had booked Tahir and Javed under the Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export Act).

Both Tahir and Javed were arrested on November 19, with police claiming that the duo had “surrendered” and confessed that they too had a countrymade gun.

“With the arrest of Dev, five more men are absconding in the case. They have been identified as Rohitash, Chetram, Bunty, Khushiram and Dasrath,” said Beniwal.