Mithun, the tribal man was in the habit of stealing things and used to return them after taking some amount from them. He was also caught red-handed at a nearby village recently.

RANCHI: In yet another incident of mob lynching in Jharkhand, a tribal man was beaten to death by villagers at Horedag on the outskirts of Ranchi, allegedly after being caught attempting theft in a house early in the morning on Thursday. According to police, six people have been arrested so far. The raids are still on to arrest others after lodging an FIR at Ormanjhi Police Station in this regard.

According to eyewitnesses, the owner of the house woke up from sleep and raised an alarm after he saw the burglar in his house; the villagers assembled there and caught him after chasing him for some distance. They tied him with a rope and thrashed him badly till he lost consciousness.

Police reached there after a few hours and took him to the nearby hospital where he succumbed to his injuries during treatment.

“We got information that a 35-year old man, Mithun Kherwar, was detained allegedly while he was making a theft attempt in a house and was being thrashed by them.  A team was rushed to the spot, which rescued the victim and admitted him to the nearby hospital where he died during treatment,” said SP Rural Naushad Alam.

According to the SP, a special investigation team (SIT) headed by Silli DSP, has been constituted to look into the matter. "So far six people have been arrested and sent to jail. Investigations are on and anybody involved in the crime will not be spared at any cost", he said.

Local police informed that an FIR against 6 named and 35 unknown persons, under relevant sections of thrashing and killing, has been lodged. The process of identification of others involved in the case is also on.

According to Mukhiya Rameshchandra Oroan, Mithun was in the habit of stealing things and used to return them after taking some amount from them. He was also caught red-handed at a nearby village in Pithoria and was beaten by the villagers in the recent past.

“The matter never reached to police as it was settled in the village itself through talks. Mithun was also warned several times asking him to shun this habit, but he was not ready to mend his ways,” said a local requesting anonymity. Since this was being repeated, villagers tried to teach him a lesson and thrashed him badly, but unfortunately, he died, said the local. On Thursday also, he barged into two houses with the intention of theft but did not succeed.