15 arrested for lynching man in Mangaluru

Mangaluru: The Mangaluru police have arrested 15 persons in connection with lynching of a man identified as Ashraf Pulpally.

Commissioner of Police Anupam Agrawal said the arrested are Sachin T ( 26) from Thiruvail village, Devadas (50) from Thiruvail, Manjunath ( 32) from Thiruvail, Saideep (29) from Subramanya Nagar, Nitesh Kumar alias Santosh (33) from Mangala Nagar, Dheekshith Kumar ( 32) from Kudupu Katte, Sandeep (23) from Vamanjoor, Vivian Alvares ( 41) from Kudpadu, Sridatta (32) from Kudupukatte, Rahul (23) from Kaibattalu, Bejai, Pradeep Kumar (35) from Jyothi Nagar in Kulasekhar, Manish Shetty (21) from Shaktinagar, Dhanush (31), Dheekshith (27) from Kulasekhar and Kishore Kumar (37) from Kudupu.

Explaining the incident, the commissioner said that a cricket match was being held at a ground in Kudupu, where the victim who had visited the ground had an argument with Sachin, an auto driver. Following which, Sachin assaulted him.

Later, he was joined by over 30 associates who assaulted the victim using hands, sticks, and by kicking him. Although some bystanders attempted to intervene, the group continued to assault him, which ultimately led to his death, according to the preliminary investigation. To establish the identity of the deceased, the photograph of the body was widely circulated. Several teams were formed to interrogate witnesses and suspects present at the scene during the incident, and to collect and analyse CCTV footage from the vicinity as well as mobile/tower dump data.

Mangaluru Rural Police received information about the discovery of the dead body near Bhatra Kallurti Temple in Kudupu on April 27 at 5.30 pm.

Upon receiving the information, local police and senior officers visited the scene and conducted a preliminary inspection. Subsequently, crime scene investigation experts and mobile forensic teams were called to the location. During the inspection, as there were no clearly visible or serious injuries on the body, the crime scene experts and forensic teams recommended conducting a post-mortem examination. Accordingly, based on the initial complaint a case of Unnatural Death (UDR) with suspicion was registered at Mangaluru Rural Police Station. The body was then shifted to the mortuary at the Wenlock District Hospital, for post mortem examination.

According to the preliminary report submitted by the doctors who performed the autopsy, the cause of death appears to be internal bleeding and shock resulting from multiple strong blows to the back, and lack of timely medical treatment, said the Commissioner.

Based on the report, murder case was registered by invoking Section 103(2) of BNS which calls for the accused be punished with death or with imprisonment for life. In addition,  sections 115(2), 189(2), 190, 191(1), 191(3), 240 of the BNS Act 2023 have also been invoked against 19 individuals. The section 103 (2) is being invoked for the first time in Mangaluru, said the Commissioner.

The commissioner said efforts are underway to trace and apprehend the remaining accused. The police are trying to gather evidence in the case.

To a query on the former Corporator’s husband involved in the incident, the Commissioner said that the investigation team is verifying it.

The body of Ashraf Pulpally was handed over to his relatives after completion of formalities in wee hours on Wednesday.

Police sources said Jabbar had travelled from Waynad district in Kerala and had identified the victim Ashraff as his brother who sought a living by working in hotels.

Two months ago, Ashraf had visited their house and since then there was no information of his whereabouts.