“We’ve Killed 5 So Far,” a Rajasthan BJP ex-MLA says, citing the lynching of Pehlu Khan as an example.

In an apparent reference to the lynchings of Rakbar Khan and Pehlu Khan, Rajasthan BJP leader Gyan Dev Ahuja was caught on camera asking a crowd to “murder everyone implicated in cow slaughter,” claiming, “We have so far killed five people; be it in Lalawandi or Behror.”

Both of the murders — one in 2017 and one in 2018 — occurred in Ramgarh, the constituency of Gyan Dev Ahuja, when the BJP was in power in the state. It wasn’t clear which of the other three killings he was talking about.

“I have given workers unfettered rein to kill. We will have them acquitted and released on bail. “He states this on the video, which appears to be taken earlier this week. All six defendants in Pehlu Khan’s murder were acquitted in 2019, but the state’s Congress government has filed a plea in the Supreme Court. The trial for Rakbar Khan’s murder is currently ongoing at the local court.

Following the video’s virality on Saturday, the BJP leader was arrested and charged with promoting racial strife under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code. He has previously stated that the killers are “patriots” and “genuine descendants of Chhatrapati Shivaji and Guru Gobind Singh.”

Today, the Alwar unit of the BJP stated that those are “his thoughts.” “The party does not think like way,” BJP Alwar South president Sanjay Singh Naruka told PTI.

Mr. Ahuja, on the other hand, defended his stance, saying, “Anyone implicated in cow smuggling and killing will not be spared.” “I stated five Meo Muslims who were smuggling cows were beaten severely by our personnel,” he clarified.