india

Updated: Jul 20, 2019 23:25 IST

The Bihar police on Saturday arrested eight persons for allegedly lynching three men in Baniapur on suspicion of being cattle thieves, police said.

Saran (Chapra) superintendent of police Hari Kishore Rai said they have booked the eight arrested accused under various charges of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and named some unknown persons in the FIR.

The three men were attacked when they were allegedly trying to steal cattle in the Nandlal village under Banipur police station of Saran district, 70km northwest of the state’s capital, Patna. Residents woke up after hearing some noise and assaulted the men.

While two of the men had died on the spot, the third died while undergoing treatment. Their have been sent for postmortem.

The deceased were identified as Naushad Alam, Raju Nat and Videsh Nat, all residents of Paigampur.

Villagers had claimed that four men had come to steal cattle, and when they tried to catch them, one managed to flee. They alleged that three goats were previously stolen from the courtyard of Rajbali Ram. The cattle, too, belonged to Ram.

The family of those killed denied the men were involved in the theft. “My brother was not a thief. He was to get married very soon,” said Shailesh Nut.

ONE HELD FOR ‘LYNCHING ATTEMPT’ IN MAHARASHTRA

Police in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad city arrested one person Saturday, a day after a Muslim man was allegedly beaten up by a group of people and forced to say “Jai Shriram”.

Ganesh Vinod Sonawane (21), the arrested accused, was among the assailants who allegedly tried to lynch Imran Ismail Patel in the wee hours of Friday, a police official said.

Patel, a hotel employee, had said in his complaint that a group of around 10 persons stopped him when he was returning home on a motorbike on Friday. They snatched his keys, beat him and forced him to say “Jai Shriram”, he claimed.

A case under IPC sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on the ground of religion) and 144 (unlawful assembly) has been registered.