KHARSAWAN: Maskoor Ansari, the father of Tabrez Ansari who died days after he was beaten by a mob in Seraikela Kharsawan on June 17, was apparently killed in a similar way almost 15 years ago. Maskoor was caught by a mob while allegedly committing theft in Bagbera area of Jamshedpur and lynched, according to locals.

Police are now trying to dig out details of the incident. A case on this had then been lodged at the Bagbera police station. Mohammed Mosahid Khan, general secretary of Congress's district unit, said he had gone to Jamshedpur to bring Maskoor's body back to his village after it was identified. "After all, he was from here," Khan told TOI on Tuesday.

Two septuagenarians, unwilling to give their names as they feared they would be interrogated by investigating agencies, corroborated what Khan said. Maskoor indeed was killed by a mob, they said. "He, too, was caught by a crowd. He was beaten up and his throat slit. We were here when his body was brought back," said an elderly woman, who lives across the road to Jama Masjid, barely 100 metres from Tabrez's house.

Some people in Bagbera vividly remember the infamous lynching of November 2004. Local leader and social activist Subodh Kumar Jha said, "One day, residents of Ramnagar locality in Bagbera got hold of the man and he was beaten to death by an irate mob," he said.

