A 27-year-old man in Assam’s Sivasagar district was allegedly beaten to death by a group of locals for stealing a mobile phone from a neighbour’s house around 5am on Monday, police said, adding that the victim’s friend was also attacked by the mob and he has been admitted to hospital with critical injuries.
The incident happened at Phukan Nagar locality of Sivasagar town, and the deceased was identified by police as Palu Gowala, a resident of Ward-10 of Phukan Nagar.
“The locals thrashed Gowala and his friend on the streets. They left them critically injured after a patrolling team of police intervened,” officials said.
Both of them were taken to a local government hospital where the doctors declared Gowala dead, according to police. The other person named Dadu Orang, is undergoing treatment.
The additional superintendent of police (crime), Sivasagar, Moidul Islam said that the family members of Gowala have lodged a First Information Report (FIR) against a group of locals and police will register a case.
‘We are registering a case under charges of murder and an investigation has already started. The accused will be identified and arrested soon,” he told HT.
Dadu Orang later told the media that he didn’t have any idea about the alleged theft. “We were walking on the street and suddenly they stopped us, accusing us of theft. We told them, we don’t have any idea about the theft but they started thrashing us,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Dadu Orang later told the media that he didn’t have any idea about the alleged theft. “We were walking on the street and suddenly they stopped us, accusing us of theft. We told them, we don’t have any idea about the theft but they started thrashing us,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Police said that they are investigating both the sides. “Even if the allegation of theft is found to be true, the act of violence is not acceptable. We’ll investigate the matter thoroughly,” said the ASP.