Man beaten to death after cattle theft

In another case of lynching, a young Indian man working as a tailor in Dubai was beaten to death here early on Thursday by a 50-strong mob on suspicion that he was involed in stealing cattle.

Superintendent of Police Abhinandan Singh said three persons have been arrested after the horrific murder of Shahrukh Khan, 20, who was visiting his family in Uttar Pradeah for Eid.

The incident happened in Bholapur Hindoliya village where the mob attacked four young men when they found them in a village cattle yard.

Quoting witnesses, the police said locals had been complaining of cattle theft for some time. On Thursday morning, the villagers reportedly spotted the four youths in the cattle yard of one Gajendra Pal and gave them a chase. The youths ran towards the Nakatiya river to save their lives.

While three of them managed to flee, Shahrukh, who did not know swimming, fell into the hands of frenzied villagers and was badly thrashed and handed over to the police.

He was admitted to the district hospital around 7:30 a.m where he died in front of his family members and relatives. The post-mortem report has revealed that he died of internal injuries.

The villagers have filed an FIR against Shahrukh and other suspects alleging cattle theft.

However, the victim's family members have refuted the charge of theft and told the police that Shahrukh had gone out late night after receiving a phone call from one of his local friends.

"The police informed us later about the incident. We found him in the district hospital," a family member said.

Later, the family members of Shahrukh also filed a counter-FIR against two dozen persons accusing them of mob lynching.

Anand Kumar, Additional Director General of Police (ADG, Law and Order) told IANS that he had sought a report on the incident. "I am awaiting details" he added.

In the recent past, several cases of mob lynching sparked by cattle theft have been reported from western and central parts of Uttar Pradesh.

--IANS

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