Man lynched in Haryana for cattle theft

A man was lynched by three persons in Haryana’s Palwal district, 70 km from New Delhi, for suspected cattle theft on the intervening night of August 3, the police said on Saturday.

The deceased, in his early thirties, was beaten so brutally that he died on the spot. The assailants tightly tied the suspected cattle thief’s hands and legs with a rope after which they beat him up mercilessly with fists and batons. The incident took place in Palwal’s Behrola village.

The body was kept lying in the house of the accused till the morning. Villagers gathered at the house at sunrise. The incident comes close on the heels of the brutal Alwar lynching case where 28-year-old Rakbar Khan was beaten to death by a mob.

According to the police, the suspected cattle thief was beaten up by three brothers of the same village who caught him while the man was trying to take away their cattle from the shed.

The police have registered a case against the three brothers — Bir Singh, Prakash and Ram Krishan. According to sources, the police may not treat the episode as a mob-lynching case given that the suspected cow thief trespassed into the house and retaliated wrongfully under the law.

The deceased is yet to be identified. Investigating officer Suresh Kumar said the case has been registered on the basis of a complaint by the night patrolling staff who reached the village in the morning.

In another incident in Alimail’s village in the same district, the police on Saturday confiscated 100 kilograms of “beef” on Saturday. At least six people have been booked for the offence. All of them fled the scene. Carcasses of cows were found from the premises. The owner was slaughtering and selling beef from the place, it is alleged.