Mumbai: In an incident that is suspected to be a hate crime, a car washer associated with a multinational car showroom in Mumbai was killed after one of his colleagues inserted a high-pressure air hose into his rectum 'for a prank'.

According to reports, the relatives of 48-year-old Yakub Sheikh, the victim, alleged that the company version of 'prank gone wrong' was not so convincing and that he had an argument with Santhosh Aherkar about the practice of 'animal sacrifice' before the incident at the Toyota Shinrai showroom at Cotton Green. ''You had mutton, we will take out your mutton now," Aherkar is alleged to have said, claimed the victim's relatives.

"Why are the police so willing to take the company's version? We do not believe that this is the work of just one man. We want justice," said Shafia, Yakub Sheikh's daughter in a press conference in Mumbai.

Local NGOs independently investigating the case also believed that there was some police cover up. Susan Abraham from the Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights said, "If Aherkar approached the victim with a high pressure pipe, he would definitely have heard it, and be alert. We suspect he was pinned down by some people while Aherkar inserted the pipe. There is a conspiracy between the police and the company."

Responding to the accusations, Joint commissioner of police, Deven Bharti, said ''The investigation into the case is still going on."