A 27-year-old man died after he and one more from the minority community were brutally beaten up by villagers of Gagalhedi in Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh on accusation of attempted robbery.
The deceased – Mohammed Salman – and his companion Mohammed Rafid were tied upside down and beaten with sticks continuously even as they pleaded to let them go.
A video has emerged on social media showing the villagers beating one of them with sticks while the other lay unconscious on the ground.
UP police denies assault by villagers
According to Saharanpur superintendent of police (SP) Sagar Jain, a PCR call was received from Nawada on the night of January 19 about an attempted robbery.
In a video byte uploaded by the official X account of Saharanpur police, SP Jain denies any involvement in the assault by the villagers.
“There were 3-4 men who had attempted robbery in Gagalhedi village. However, they tried to flee when the family raised the alarm and woke up the neighbours. As they were fleeing, one of the men (Mohammed Salman) sustained injuries and got trapped. He was handed over to the police who provided medical treatment. However, the accused died during the treatment,” the SP said.
Addressing the video of the assault that has been doing the rounds on social media, SP Jain said that an investigation is underway to ascertain the authenticity of the video. “Strict action will be initiated against those found guilty,” he concluded.
The body was Salman was handed over to his family after postmortem.
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