Man dies after he is thrashed in east Delhi on suspicion of being a thief

A video clip that shows three men assaulting the man with sticks while at least three others stood by watching was recordered on CCTV cameras in east Delhi’s Pandav Nagar .

A 23-year-old man succumbed to injuries at a government hospital on Tuesday after he was beaten up by a crowd in east Delhi’s Pandav Nagar who suspected him of being a thief, the police said.

A medical board has been constituted to conduct the man’s autopsy. (HT File Photo)

The alleged assault was captured by CCTV cameras installed in the lane where the incident took place. The video clips show three men assaulting the man with sticks while at least three others stood by watching. The victim of the attack is not visible in the footage because of the parked vehicles.

“The man was identified as Salman, a resident of Dadri in Uttar Pradesh. His previous involvement is being examined. A medical board has been constituted to conduct the man’s autopsy. Our probe is on,” deputy commissioner of police (east) Jasmeet Singh said.

According to the police, the incident took place in Pandav Nagar’s C-block early Tuesday morning, when one of the locals caught Salman and his friend on the rooftop of a building where they allegedly intended to commit a theft. When a local resident raised the alarm, the two men panicked and jumped off the rooftop.

“Salman fell into a drain and got stuck while his associate fled. We have learnt that some locals beat him up with sticks before calling the police. A police team reached there and admitted Salman to a government hospital where he succumbed to injuries the same day. Prime facie, it appears that he died of internal injuries sustained in the attack,” an investigator, who asked not to be named, said.

In another video clip, almost two hours after the alleged attack, two policemen are seen standing at the incident spot and, one of them, holding a stick, is signalling the injured man to get up. The policeman is further seen prodding the man from behind with the stick even as he limps through the lane, dangling a piece of rope tied around his left wrist.

Police said they have also got a mobile phone video in which the injured man is lying on the ground and admitting that he and his associate had climbed the building with the intent to commit a theft. In that video, his hands was seen tied to some structure with ropes.

One of the assaulters, identified as Rajesh Kumar, has been arrested and booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, a case regarding which was registered under Section 304 of Indian Penal Code at the Mandawali police station, said DCP Singh.