Man beaten to death while saving activist in Mumbai

A 44-year-old man died while trying to save an activist from an angry mob in Mumbai's posh Bandra Kurla Complex area. Police have registered an FIR against five men and 25 unknown people.

The deceased, identified as Sheikh Zafar, sustained heavy injuries when he intervened in a clash between one Syed Mohammad Rafique Chashmawala and a group of men.

The incident happened late on Friday when a group of nearly 30 men allegedly beat up Chashmawala, who post videos on Facebook, about alleged builders' mafia in the area, accusing local corporator of being involved in, what he calls, the irregularities.

"The incident took place around 11 pm on Friday. Complainant Mohd Rafique Chashmawala has been posting videos (on Facebook) for last two years, in which he speaks about irregularities by builders in the area and role of corporator in it. On Friday, corporator's husband Shalim Qureshi went to Rafique's house and the duo started fighting," said Kalpana Gadekar, Senior Police Inspector, Bandra Kurla Complex

Sheikh Zafar, who tried to stop the altercation, suffered injuries to his head and died later, police added.

According to Rafique, local corporator's husband Shalim Qureshi, along with 30 men, came to beat him after he posted a video on Friday.

"After I returned from the mosque, Qureshi came along with 30 people and started beating me. Zafar came to my rescue but they started beating him also," he said.

Zafar's body has been sent for postmortem. Further investigation in the matter is underway.