SHAHJAHANPUR: A collision between a motorbike and a bicycle took an ugly turn at the Katra-Farukkhabad state highway here after an angry mob quickly gathered to beat one of the men, Nabi Ahmed, 55, to death. The other man on the bike, Azmat Ullah , is seriously injured and is in hospital for treatment.

Sunil Kumar, after falling on the road from his bicycle, had raised an alarm following which a mob crystallized almost out of nowhere and started attacking the bikers with sticks. Sharik Ahmed , son of Nabi, told TOI, “The crowd brutally attacked my father and our relative as they both had long beards. It was easy to make out that they were from a different faith.“ Police on Thursday , however, lodged an FIR for “causing death by negligence“ and said they will add sections on murder after receiving the postmortem report.

According to the deceased's family , Nabi and Azmat Ullah of Gausnagar town under Jalalabad police station, were returning from a wedding in Katra on Wednesday evening. Kumar, who was carrying pipes on his bicycle, collided with the bike and all three fell down. The accident happened in Attibara village.

"As Kumar is married to a girl from Attibara village, he is known to many there. When he cried for help, some of them soon gathered at the spot and started assaulting my father and Azmat. The mob clearly knew they were Muslims," said Sharik, who is a farmer.

