Three lynched for theft in Jharkhand

Close on the heels of 10 alleged thieves being lynched by a vigilante mob in Bihar’s Vaishali district on September 13, three unarmed thieves were beaten to death in Ramgarh district of Jharkhand on Thursday night.

“The thieves were caught by a group of people who belonged to the village defence committee. Since the committee was formed to protect lives and property against marauding wild elephants, they were on night patrol. Responding to an alarm raised by some villagers who challenged the thieves, the committee members caught the three and beat them to death,” said Sanjay Singh, a resident of Kordi village in Ramgarh district where the incident took place.

Eyewitness said two of the thieves who were identified by the police as Fayaz (25) and Umar (26), both residents of neighbouring Piri village, had criminal antecedents.“They had stolen the water pumps of two residents. Earlier, one of them had stolen my bicycle,” said Samsuddin Ansari, another villager.

Though the incident took place on Thursday night, the police reached the village only on Friday morning. “We have arrested one person. With the progress of investigation, more arrests can be expected,” said Ramgarh SP A B Honker.