19-year-old rag picker beaten to death in Pimpri Chinchwad by workers suspecting him to be thief

Police said Pawar belonged to the Pardhi community (a Scheduled Tribe, once branded as a ‘criminal tribe’ by the British). So, on the basis of the complaint filed by his wife, sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act have also been invoked against the accused.

Pawar’s wife stated in the FIR that he was picking up scrap and plastic material near a labour camp located close to the Life Park society on the Dudulgaon Road in Moshi around 2 am on August 25.

Police said workers at the labour camp spotted Pawar along with two more persons. The workers attacked the trio suspecting they were thieves. Two of them managed to escape from the spot. But the workers caught Pawar and thrashed him badly with an iron pipe.

Then, instead of informing the police, the workers allegedly tied up injured Pawar at a tin shed room in the labour camp for a few hours. After knowing about the incident, the labour supervisor informed the police around 10.30 am on Friday. Soon, a police team reached the spot and rescued Pawar. He was immediately taken to a hospital. But he succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment at the hospital on Friday.

Police then arrested six workers identified as Anil Ram (33), Gautam Kumar Prasad (22), Brijesh Subhash Prasad (24), Kamlesh Lalji Yadav (20), Shailendra Kumar Prasad (23) and Mannu (36). Police said the workers are residents of north Indian states.

The investigation was handed over to assistant commissioner of police Anilkumar Koli. Police said the deceased Pawar was earning his living by scrap selling. “As per his Aadhaar card, his age is 19 years. He is married and also has a child,” said senior police inspector Bapu Dhere of the Dighi police station.

Pawar’s wife has claimed that he was innocent and had gone to the labour camp area to pick up scrap material. But the assailants claimed that Pawar and his two accomplices wanted to commit theft and were moving suspiciously, police said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Bapu Bangar said, “An FIR for murder has been registered. Six workers are arrested. Further investigation is on. It will be known during the probe why the deceased and two others had gone to the labour camp area in the wee hours, around 2 am”.