7 thrashed on suspicion of being child lifters in MP; 9 held

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Villagers allegedly thrashed a group of seven persons on suspicion they were child lifters in adjoining Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh, an official said on Monday.

Nine villagers were arrested on Monday in connection with the incident, in which the victims were injured, and charged them with attempt to murder, he said.

Khargone Superintendent of Police (SP) Sunil Kumar Pandey told PTI that the incident occurred when a group of seven men had gone to Maheshwar from Indore, around 100km from here, to celebrate Friendship Day on Sunday.

When they were returning in the night, they lost the way and their car reached Bhuvan Talai village, he said.

"When these men were inquiring from the villagers about the route to Indore, someone raised an alarm, saying they belonged to a gang of child lifters.

"A crowd of villagers soon gathered there and started thrashing them," he said.

Pandey said when a police team reached the spot on getting information about the incident, the villagers pelted stones at their vehicle.

Later, the injured persons were admitted to Indores government-run Maharaja Yeshwantrao Hospital, the police officer said.

The SP said the police have identified 12 people who were part of the crowd and arrested nine of them under the IPC section 307 (attempt to murder).

A search was underway for the other accused, he added.

This was the latest in a series of such incidents reported from Madhya Pradesh and other parts of the country.