A 19-year-old youth was allegedly dragged out of his house and beaten to death in Chhattisgarh's Dhamtari disctrict over suspicion that the teen had stolen paddy. Three others were injured in the assault by the mob. The police have arrested 13 people, including three women, in connection with the incident. This is the second such incident in the state which has happened within a period of two days.
The teen, Kartik Patel, was assaulted by a mob in Sirsida village on the early hours on Monday. The villagers had raised alarm after they spotted a few men allegedly attempting to steal paddy kept outside one of the resident Bhikam Sahu's house. He is the main accused in Patel's killing.
The villagers had caught hold Omkar Sahu with two sacks of paddy, while the others had run away, The Indian Express reported, citing police.
When Omkar Sahu was questioned by the villagers about the paddy stealing and his accomplices, he revealed the names of the other two teens involved.
Thereafter, the angry villagers headed towards Patel's home and took him away. Inspector Arun Sahu, Kurud police station in-charge said that Patel's father had tried to stop the villagers, but he was warned to keep away and was not allowed to follow the mob that took his son away, the report said.
The third suspect Montu Sahu was not found. The mob then rounded up other suspects including Sanjay Sahu, Dhaneshwar Nishad, Devendra Sahu, along with Kartik Patel over suspicion of stealing and assaulted them with bamboo sticks at around 12:25 AM on Monday.
According to the police, the mob continued to beat them till 7 AM, only after which the victims were taken to a medical facility. However, Patel, who was referred to Dhamtari district hospital, succumbed to his injuries during treatment, the report said.
On Sunday, a group of people killed a Dalit man over stealing paddy in the Raigarh district. He was tied to a tree and beaten to death by residents of Dumarpalli village over suspicion of stealing paddy from a house.