Ahmedabad: What began as an allegation of theft ended in a brutal act of mob violence that claimed the life of a 25-year-old unidentified man, who police said was stripped naked, tied with a rope, beaten at multiple locations and dumped by the roadside in Gandhinagar. Police have arrested six of the seven accused named in the FIR.The case came to light after Adalaj police recovered the unidentified Hindi-speaking man’s naked body near the Beverly building site at Por village on July 3 and registered an accidental death case. An investigation using CCTV footage and local enquiries, however, revealed what police described as a case of vigilante justice that spiralled into murder.According to the FIR by the police, the incident began around 12.30am on July 3 near the School of Achiever in Kudasan, where three youths travelling on a scooter were approached by the victim, who asked in Hindi about a place to eat. Police said the encounter turned violent after one of the youths alleged that the man grabbed his gold chain.
Lynching accused
“The accused began assaulting him with fists and kicks. Soon, two more youths from their village joined in after the victim allegedly abused them,” the FIR states.Police said the victim tried to escape by running into a school premises, but the group chased him down, found him hiding and dragged him out before continuing the assault with wooden sticks.Investigators said the attackers then forced the injured man onto a motorcycle and took him towards Por village, while another accused followed on a scooter.The assault allegedly intensified near the Baliyadev temple, where three more men joined the group. According to the FIR, the victim was stripped naked, tied with a rope and repeatedly beaten with wooden sticks after the accused declared him to be a thief.Police have also named a local resident as an accused, alleging that he brought the rope after being told the victim was a thief.After the prolonged assault, two of the accused allegedly placed the critically injured man on a scooter and abandoned him near the Beverly building site on the Por-Sargasan Road.Investigators recovered the victim’s shirt and trousers about 500m away near the Baliyadev Temple, a discovery that police said corroborated CCTV footage and witness statements.Based on the investigation, Adalaj police registered a case of murder, kidnapping and rioting under the BNS, along with provisions of the Gujarat Police Act, against seven accused. The victim’s identity has not yet been established, police said.Sequence of events:1. Three youths returning home were stopped by an unidentified Hindi-speaking man near School of Achiever. One of the youths accused the man of trying to steal his gold chain2. The man runs inside a school to escape but is chased by the accused. They grab him out of the hiding and beat him up with sticks before forcing him onto a motorcycle3. Near Baliyadev Temple, the victim was allegedly stripped naked, tied with a rope and thrashed with sticks4. The badly injured man was dumped on the Por-Sargasan Road. His naked body was found hours later, and CCTV footage helped police reconstruct the crime
