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Villagers lynch man after accusing him of theft near Ranchi
By the time the police reached the village, the man died.
A 26-year-old man was allegedly tied to an electricity pole and lynched by villagers who accused him of stealing the battery and wheel of a motorcycle at Sirka village in Jharkhand’s Ranchi district, police said on Sunday.
The incident took place on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday when Mubarak Kham, a resident of Maheshpur village, had come to neighbouring Sirka village, police said.
The locals told police that he was stealing wheel and battery of a bike. They also claimed that a wheel and jack of a car were found from the spot. They allegedly tied him to an electricity pole and beat him brutally.
After getting information of the incident, police rushed to the spot around 3 am on Sunday but Mubarak had died by then. The body was brought to the police station.
“The body has been sent for postmortem and we have started investigation into the matter,” said Ranchi’s superintendent of police (rural) Naushad Alam.
Mubarak’s elder brother Tabarak Khan has lodged a complaint of murder against 19 named persons and 15-25 unknown persons at Angara police station.
Alam said, “We have also detained few people in this regard and they are being interrogated.”
He said prima facie it doesn’t seem to be a case of theft but some kind of a dispute. “The locals claimed that wheel and battery of a bike was being stolen. But it is doubtful. Will somebody come on a bike to steal wheel and battery of another bike in a neighbouring village? Why would he take risk of being caught by opening the wheel and battery in somebody’s house? Had he been a thief, he would have rather stolen the bike as it was unlocked,” Alam said.
The SP said, “We suspect there had been any internal dispute. However, anything concrete could be said only after investigation is completed.”
Meanwhile, villagers ghearoed the Angara police station demanding immediate arrest of the accused behind the murder. They were also demanding compensation for the family of Mubarak.
Deputy superintendent of police (DSP), Silli, Christopher Kerketta said, “Mubarak has two children and wife. His wife is ill.”
When asked if Mubarak had any criminal records, Kerketta said, “We have not so far found any trace of criminal record of him.”
This was the second lynching incident in a week in Ranchi district. On March 8, a 22-year-old youth, identified as Sachin Verma, accused of stealing a mini-truck from Ranchi’s wholesale market, was lynched by labourers.
Jharkhand’s mob lynching incidents have hit the national headlines several times. The Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (JJM) claimed that a total of 29 people were lynched by mob in Jharkhand from March 2016 to September 2020.
