A 55-year-old man was lynched by a mob in Neemuch district of Madhya Pradesh for allegedly stealing and killing peacocks, police said on Saturday.
In a separate incident, a man was allegedly lynched on suspicions of being a “child lifter” in Raisen district, according to the police.
Ten people from the Gurjar community of Lasudia Atari village have been named in an FIR lodged at Kukdeshwar police station out of whom nine have been arrested. The FIR has been registered against the deceased too along with three others for stealing and killing peacocks, Rakesh Gupta, Inspector General of Police, Ujjain Range said.
Heavy police deployment could be seen in the village after the incident.
According to Superintendent of Police Rakesh Kumar Sagar, one of the accused Ambalal Gurjar, a resident of Lasudia Atari village, allegedly spotted four people escaping on a bike with peacocks.
“Gurjar tried to stop them. Three of them managed to escape while one of them Heeralal Bachhda, 55, was caught. Gurjar called other villagers to help. Bachhda was beaten up with canes and his bike was set afire by the villagers.
“The villagers called the police and claimed that four dead peacocks were recovered from the possession of the deceased. Bachhda was taken to a hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries during treatment,” Sagar said.
{{/usCountry}}“The villagers called the police and claimed that four dead peacocks were recovered from the possession of the deceased. Bachhda was taken to a hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries during treatment,” Sagar said.
{{/usCountry}}The deceased’s brother Banshilal Bacchda filed an FIR against Ambalal Gurjar and nine others.
The accused have been booked under Section 302 (murder), 506 (criminal intimidation), 147 (punishment for rioting) and 149 (unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under various sections of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocity) Act, the SP said.
Sagar said the Bachhda community has been accused of killing peacocks by poisoning for a long time. “The villagers said they had warned Bachhdas many times but they continued to kill peacocks for the meat. We are also trying to get the details of previous cases if any.”
The SP said police recovered four dead peacocks from the deceased and on the complaint of villagers, an FIR under Section 379 (punishment for theft) of IPC and under Sections 9 and 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 was also lodged against the four persons, including the deceased Heeralal Bachhda, Banshialal Bacchda, Pappu Bacchda, and Rahul Bacchda.
The brother of the deceased, Bansilal Bachhda, who is one of the accused said, “The villagers hate our community. They blame us for every crime committed in the village. I don’t know what the truth is as I was not there but they killed my brother deliberately.”
In a separate incident in Raisen district, a 50-year-old man was allegedly beaten up on suspicion of his being involved in ‘child lifting’ on Thursday evening. The man died during treatment at a community health center (CHC) on Friday afternoon, the police said. The man identified as Sheshnag, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, was allegedly attacked at Aakalpur village.
Superintendent of police, Raisen Monika Shukla said, “The police received information that a man who was often found roaming about in the area was lying unconscious. A police team took him to a nearby hospital where he died during treatment. There was no complaint or information that the man was involved in any child lifting.”
She said, “The doctors verbally said he died of cardiac arrest but we are waiting for the post-mortem report to decide what action needs to be taken.”
Former minister and BJP leader Rajendra Shukla said, “The law and order situation has collapsed in MP. The government is busy with transfers and postings of officers and employees, including those from the police department. Fear of the law has ceased to exist in the mind of criminals.”
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath said, “The state government is very serious about these unlawful activities. The government is coming up with a strict law against mob lynching.”
On Wednesday the government tabled an amendment bill in the state assembly for punishment to those who indulge in violence in the name of cow vigilantism.