india

Updated: Sep 25, 2018 19:24 IST

A man was badly beaten by a group of villagers for fishing near a temple in Rajasthan’s Chittorgarh district last week and succumbed to his injuries in hospital. Police have registered a case of murder against unidentified people but are yet to arrest anyone.

Azhar Khan (22) was beaten in Chittorgarh’s Kheri village on September 17 allegedly for fishing and dirtying area near a temple on the banks of Ruparel river and died in a hospital in Udaipur on September 22. His uncle Riyaz Khan registered an FIR on the same day.

Parsoli station house officer Praveen Singh Tuesday said that they had detained some men for questioning, but gave no more details.

According to police, Azhar had gone to Ruparel river with three others - Shahnawaz Khan (23), Naushad Khan (47) and Anwar Khan (41) when some men guarding their fields chased the four. While three managed to escape, Azhar was caught and beaten with ‘lathis’ (bamboo staves).

He was taken to Chittorgarh district hospital and later referred to Udaipur medical college where he succumbed to his injuries.

According to Anwar, there were some people from a nearby farm who were watching them as they went to place their net and stopped them when the four were returning after removing it. As these men called others, he said he, Shamshad and Naushad ran away.

When he later came to know Azhar was lying injured at the spot, he and the other two went and brought him home but didn’t tell his family about the incident, saying he was injured in an accident.

However, when Azhar’s condition worsened, he told his family about the beating and was taken to a government hospital in Chittorgarh the next day, from where he was referred to Udaipur.

There was tension in Bicchor village when Azhar’s body was handed over to his family after an autopsy.

“The dispute between the two parties had been for a long time. The youths caught fish and sorted them in the locality and left the waste there which had caused heated arguments on previous occasions,” said a police official who didn’t wanted to be named.

According to Afroz Khan, another uncle of Azhar, the youth worked as a conductor in a private bus and was youngest among four siblings. His father drives local public transport vehicles.