42-year-old man beheaded in Bihar market, suspect lynched by mob

The officer said there was allegedly a dispute between Chauhan and Hussain over an affair and the vendor killed the driver in a fit of rage.

A 42-year-old pickup van driver was beheaded allegedly by a roadside vendor, who was later beaten to death by local residents in Bihar’s Araria district on Thursday, prompting additional deployment of police force as the incident involved members from different communities, senior officers said.

The bodies of both the deceased have been sent for post-mortem examination. (Representational)

According to Jitendra Kumar, superintendent of police (SP), Araria district, which is headquartered at Forbesganj, the incident took place in the morning when Nabi Hussain, who drove a pickup vehicle, had a quarrel with Ravi Chauhan (30).

“Chauhan used to sell sattu (roasted gram flour) at a local market where he picked up a quarrel with Hussain and attacked him with a dagger, which police have seized,” the SP said.

Chauhan left Hussain’s beheaded body on the road and fled, police said.

Police forces have been put on high alert

“Onlookers caught hold of Chauhan and thrashed him until he was rescued by a police party, which rushed to the spot upon hearing about the incident. Chauhan was taken to a hospital where he succumbed to injuries,” the SP said.

The bodies of both the deceased have been sent for post-mortem examination. “Further investigations are on,” the senior officer added.

Sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Mukesh Kumar Saha said police have launched an investigation into the incident from “multiple angles, including a parking dispute.”

Saha added that police forces have been put on high alert and additional personnel have been deployed to avert further violence.

“As the incident involves two different communities, the matter is serious,” another police officer said, requesting anonymity.

Dispute between two over an affair

The officer, citing local residents, said there was allegedly a dispute between Chauhan and Hussain over an affair and the vendor killed the driver in a fit of rage.

Meanwhile, images of Hussain’s severed head, lying on the road, apparently captured by onlookers on their phones, were widely circulated on social media.

Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar assembly, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, shared a purported image on the incident on X and slammed the state government for the “horrific state of affairs” in Bihar and described the NDA rule as “a messed-up regime.”

“A man publicly slit another man’s throat right in the middle of the market and roamed around with his severed head amidst hundreds of people. Later, the family of the deceased murdered the killer in turn,” the RJD leader alleged. “This incident shows the degraded state of the law-and-order situation in Bihar. While the ruling coalition leaders are engrossed in the game of musical chairs for the ‘CM seat’, incidents of loot, murder, and rape are rising every day in Bihar.”