Strangers beat up key maker, mistaking him to be a thief

Four men mistook a 21-year-old key maker for a thief as he tried opening a car and severely beat him up on Tuesday night.

The key maker, Juneda, was opening a locked car after the owner, who lost the key while visiting the Srirama temple in Gunjur, had approached him for help. Juneda owns a key-making shop in Varthur.

Juneda told the police that two people approached him at 6 pm on Tuesday, saying they lost the key of their Santro car parked at the temple. They asked him to make a duplicate key for the car, offering to pay.

Juneda and his assistant Sahem Raj went to the spot on a scooter, where the car owner had asked him to make the duplicate.

They agreed to make the key in a while.

When Juneda tried opening the car with the duplicate key, four men rushed towards him thinking he was a thief and began to beat him up severely with a cricket bat. They did not stop despite Juneda telling them that he was a key repair man working on the car on the owner’s request.

A severely injured Juneda fell unconscious. Raj, who hid behind the tree, found Juneda unconscious at 11.45 pm and took him to hospital.

Following Juneda’s complaint, the Varthur police registered an FIR under criminal intimidation and arrested the four assailants.