Armed with only lathis, around ten policemen were up against a crowd of over 2000 people, many who were seething with rage. Police constable Mallikarjun, who was deployed in Bidar last Friday, 13 July, recounts how his colleagues and him attempted to pacify the bloodthirsty crowd, who were convinced that they had cornered five child abductors.

Mallikarjun narrates, "There were at least 2,500 people gathered near the car. Some of them were angry, hurling abuses and lynching a group of men. My first instinct was to try to pacify the mob. All our officers were horrified. We had never seen anything like it," says the constable.

And while the police in Bidar managed to save four of the men from the mob, Mohammed Azam, a 32-year-old Hyderabad techie was lynched to death.