Lockdown death: Kin blame cops, who claim he was lynched for

The kin of a 22-year-old Mumbai man on Monday alleged he was beaten to death by police after he was found outdoors during the lockdown in place for the novel coronavirus outbreak, a charge denied by officials who said the man was lynched when he was out to commit a robbery.

The man, identified as Raju Velu Devendra, lost his life in Nehru Nagar locality of Vile Parle (East), his brother Shankar claimed.

"Raju and some of us were moving towards a relative's house at 1am today when the police started chasing us. They caught hold of Raju and told us he was being taken to Juhu police station. However, at 6am, a policeman came and told us Raju was lying at Nehru Nagar Chowk," he claimed.

"We rushed him to Cooper Hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival. We found injury marks on his body. We saw 8-9 policemen beating him," he claimed.

Refuting the allegations, Additional Commissioner of Police (West) Manoj Sharma said," He was not beaten by the police but by local residents when he went to commit a robbery. He has a criminal background. No FIR has been registered as yet. We are awaiting medical reports.