Man lynched in Gujarat over suspicion of robbery

Dahod (Guj): A man was beaten to death and another injured when a mob attacked them on suspicion of robbery in Gujarat’s Dahod district, police said today.

Ajmal Mohaniya became the latest casualty in the recent spate of mob violence across the country. A group of over a dozen people went to Kali Mahudi village in Jhalod administrative division — 35 km from here — with an aim to “commit robbery” late last night, said Limdi police station inspector P M Judal.

“When the villagers came to know about their movements, they gathered at a place. As soon as they saw the ‘robbers’, the mob chased them and caught hold of two of them, while the others managed to flee,” the inspector said. The agitated villagers allegedly thrashed the two men, injuring both of them seriously by the time the police arrived, Judal said.

The police then took both the men to Dahod government hospital, where Mohaniya was declared “brought dead”. The injured person, Bharu Mathur Palas, was undergoing treatment, the official said. Both the men were recently released from the Dahod sub-jail after serving sentences in different criminal cases, he said.

In a statement to the police, Palas said he had met Mohaniya in the jail where they were earlier lodged, an police official said. Both of them had decided to meet at the village when they were attacked by a mob of around 100 villagers wielding sharp weapons, the official said quoting Palas. Police have lodged an FIR against around 100 villagers, he said.

Earlier this month, 28-year-old Rakbar Khan was lynched in Rajasthan’s Alwar district on suspicion of cow smuggling. A few weeks back, five nomads were beaten to death in Maharashtra’s Dhule village on suspicion of child-lifting. A fortnight ago, a woman was lynched by a mob in Madhya Pradesh on suspicion that she was a child-lifter.

The Supreme Court had recently took a strong view of such incidents, asking the Centre to frame a separate law to tackle this menace.