50-year-old lynched over suspicion of cattle theft in Bihar

The incident took place at Das Haripur village under Forbesganj police station, around 300 km from the state capital Patna on Wednesday night.

 A 50-year-old man was beaten to death by a mob on the suspicion of being a cattle thief in Bihar’s Araria district, police said on Thursday. This is the second incident in the district within five months in which an individual has been targeted by alleged cow vigilantes.

50-year-old lynched over suspicion of cattle theft in Bihar (REUTERS)

The incident took place at Das Haripur village under Forbesganj police station, around 300 km from the state capital Patna on Wednesday night. According to the police, some residents of Das Haripur village caught a man with stolen cattle and allegedly thrashed him. Police intervened later and rushed the victim to Forbesganj referral hospital where he was declared dead.

“The man, identified as Mahesh Yadav of Achra village under Fulkaha police station, had died on the way to hospital. He had several criminal cases registered against him,” a police officer said speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Forbesganj sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Manoj Kumar said a first information report (FIR) has been filed against unidentified people in connection with the case.

“A villager was also injured when the alleged thief attacked him with a knife.”