Ahmedabad: A 23-year-old migrant worker from Uttar Pradesh died after he was allegedly tied with a rope and beaten with sticks by a father-son duo who mistook him for a thief in the Santej police station area of Gandhinagar district, police said.The victim, identified as Itwarilal Rajput of Farrukhabad district, lived in a rented room in Khatraj village with four friends. They worked at a plastic manufacturing unit on the Santej-Vadsar road, usually from 8am to 8pm.According to a complaint filed by his roommate Anil Tej Singh Rajput, the workers returned home around 8.30pm on Wednesday, had dinner and went to sleep. Around 1.30am, Itwarilal suddenly left the room. When Anil asked where he was going, he did not respond, prompting Anil to go out looking for him.Anil told police that when he reached the Khatraj-Sanavad road, he saw two men allegedly restraining Itwarilal with rope and beating him with sticks. He rushed back to the room, woke his friends and informed their landlord, Bharat Desai, before returning to the spot.The accused allegedly claimed Itwarilal was a thief and threatened to kill him if the group did not take him away. Desai intervened and pacified the accused, identified as Mahotji and his son Sangram.The injured worker was brought back to the rented room around 5am. He reportedly told his friends that he had mistakenly walked towards another room in the dark and was attacked after being mistaken for a thief.Around 7.30am on Thursday, Itwarilal asked for water. Later, when his friends tried to wake him before leaving for work, he was found unresponsive. Police said he appeared to have died from the injuries. Santej police registered a case based on Anil’s complaint and began searching for the accused.
