A 26-year-old autorickshaw driver was beaten to death allegedly by a mob that suspected him of being a thief in southwest Delhi's Uttam Nagar.
According to a report in Hindustan Times, the deceased identified as Avinash Saxena, was allegedly tied to an electric pole, mercilessly thrashed and was later paraded.
The report added that someone from the crowd of 200-300 people (mob) called Saxena's parents to the spot and made them see their son lynched to death.
“My son kept pleading with us to save him, but the mob left us helpless. Each time my son fainted, they would sprinkle water on his face and then thrash him again. They snatched our mobile phone when we tried calling the police,” HT quoted Saxena’s mother as saying.
"Along with Avinash, two other men were also thrashed on the suspicion of being thieves," the police said. “A case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, intimidation and wrongful restraint has been registered at the Uttam Nagar police station,” he added.
According to the police, Saxena had picked two passengers, identified as Mani Ram and Prakash, from Uttam Nagar on Saturday. After boarding the auto, Mani and Prakash asked the unsuspecting auto driver to stop at Mohan Garden and wait for sometime.
Meanwhile, the auto driver Avinash went to attend the nature's call. And, when he came back, a crowd had already gathered near his auto and they were beating Mani and Prakash for stealing car batteries.
As soon as the auto driver returned to his vehicle, Mani and Prakash blamed Avinash for the thefts claiming that he is the kingpin. In the melee, the thieves placed a stolen battery in Avinash’s auto and convinced the crowd that the auto driver was the mastermind. The furious crowd immediately jumped on him and beat him to death.
(With inputs from agencies)
