A 26-year-old man was tied to an electricity pole and beaten to death at around 1 am on Sunday, 15 March, for allegedly stealing a motorcycle tire in Jharkhand’s Ranchi district, The Indian Express reported.
The incident took place in Sirka Panchayat’s Maheshpur village and the deceased was identified as Mubarak Khan by the police.
Khan’s brother, Tabarak Khan, lodged a complaint at the Angara police station, following which, an FIR into his death has been registered. No arrests have been confirmed officially by the police. However, according to sources, a mob consisting of 12 villagers were perpetrators of the crime, The Indian Express reported.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Jharkhand DGP Niraj Sinha said, “According to the information available, two people were caught by a few villagers during a theft. One of them ran away and the other one was beaten up to death.”
The deceased is a father of three children, as per his relatives. He used to drive a bread container for deliveries.
Tabarak’s complaint states that he received information of his brother’s death at 3 am through the former village pramukh, The Indian Express reported.
The complaint mentions several residents of the Sirca village, including Saheb Ram Mahato, Durga Mahato, Dhani Ram Mahato, Raju Munda Durag Munda, Balram Mahato, K, SaviChandra Mahato, Kaamlaal Mahato, and Dilip Mahato, among others named and around 25 unnamed, The Indian Express reported.
“He (Mubarak) was beaten up by 20 named and 25 unnamed people in a planned manner and one Saheb Ram Mahato had threatened my brother four days prior to the incident. This is my claim that the above mentioned people in the mob killed my brother. Please register a case of murder,” the complaint added, the Indian Express quoted.
Anwar Khan, the former pramukh informed The Indian Express that he received a call from one Roshan Munda at 2:45 am, informing him that Mubarak from Maheshpur village had passed away.
The ex-pramukh said, “I wasn’t told that what had happened…When I went to the Sirca village…villagers pointed out to Mubarak’s body and a fallen bike. Angara Police Station Officer Incharge Brajesh Kumar Singh was also present. Initially, the villagers were telling me that he was fleeing after stealing a tyre of a motor bike and then slipped and died. I checked and found that there were no marks or scratches on the bike, nor any bruise on his hands. I told them this is not an accident case,” the Indian Express quoted.
He added, “On his neck, there were welts where a rope was possibly tied. There were injuries on his feet from a pointed object. It was clear that he was beaten up.”
Roshan Munda did not revert to any calls or messages.
In the past few days, this is the second such incident reported from Ranchi. Earlier, a group of labourers beat a 22-year-old man in the Upper Bazar area on suspicion of theft. He succumbed to his injuries hours after the incident.
(With inputs from The Indian Express.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)