Rajasthan: 7 arrested in Alwar for lynching labourer on suspicion of theft

Seven persons were arrested by Alwar police on Tuesday for beating up a 43-year-old man to death on August 14 on suspicion of theft. Victim Chiranji Lal, 43, a labourer-cum-vegetable vendor, had breathed his last at a Jaipur hospital on Monday.

In his complaint lodged at Govindgarh police station, Lal’s son Yogesh, 25, stated that around 4:30 am on August 14, his father was relieving himself in the fields when a tractor came in the fields, followed by an SUV and a pick up truck. While the tractor thief allegedly ran away after ditching the tractor, the 15-20 men in two vehicles — an SUV, and a pick-up truck, who were searching for the tractor — turned up there. The occupants of the vehicles attacked my father with sticks, Yogesh stated in the complaint. “When I and my uncles Harish and Shivlal ran out upon hearing the noise, we saw one Vikram Khan and others, who left upon seeing us,” Yogesh said.

Lal was taken to Govindgarh hospital, which referred him to Alwar, and from there, he was referred to Jaipur, where he died at SMS Hospital.

Alwar SP Tejaswani Gautam said that Vikram Khan’s tractor had been stolen and he, along with his relatives, was searching for it. “Vikram got to know that his tractor is in a particular village. So, when he reached there with his relatives, he did find the tractor but the thief had managed to run away. Spotting Chiranji Lal, the men assumed him to be the thief and assaulted him.”

Apart from Vikram Khan, the police arrested Asad Khan, Syabu, Sahun, Taleem, Kaasam and Pola for murder and other relevant sections of the IPC. An SUV used by the accused was also seized.

Demanding justice, hundreds of angry locals, including some associated with right wing organisations, disrupted vehicular traffic in Alwar on Tuesday morning.