A 22-year-old Muslim man was lynched to death by a mob of over 50 villagers after he and his friends were allegedly caught trying to steal a buffalo in the early hours of Wednesday.
"We reached the spot and took him to the hospital where he died. Investigations are underway," NTDV quoted the city Superintendent of Police Abhinandan Singh as saying.
According to the reports, the incident occurred at Bholapur Hindoliya village in Bareilly district when Shahrukh Khan and three of his friends were allegedly trying to steal a buffalo and they were caught by the villagers who allegedly started beating him.
The victim, however, succumbed to his injuries later in the evening.
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Khan, who had come from Dubai a month back used to work at an embroidery unit and had been out of India for a while now.
According to the investigation by the police, family members of the victim said that Khan got a call from one of his friends at night and he went out, however, when Khan didn't return home by morning his family got worried. Later, the victim’s family received a call from the police who informed them of the incident.
"Khan had alleged that he and his three friends had managed to get away with a buffalo at around 2:30 am when they were spotted by some villagers. Though his friends escaped quickly, however, he was trapped by the angry mob who thrashed him," said police.
However, the victim’s family has denied Khan's involvement in the cattle theft case.
On July 21, a 28-year-old man was allegedly lynched by a group of people on suspicion that he was smuggling cows in Rajasthan's Alwar district, a police official.
The Supreme Court had urged the Parliament to consider enacting a separate law to deal with mob lynchings, saying "horrendous acts of mobocracy" cannot be allowed to become a new norm.
