Bareilly: A Muslim man in his early 20s was allegedly beaten to death by a group of 50 villagers, who suspected him to be a cattle thief. The incident was reported from Bholapur Hindoliya village in Bareilly district in the early hours of Wednesday. According to police, they received a call from villagers who handed over the victim, identified as Shahrukh Khan to them. He was alive when the police rescued him and was rushed to the hospital. However, he died during treatment.
Khan got a call from his friends and he went to meet them. When he didn’t return home, his family got worried, but they thought he would come back by morning, said brother of the victim. However, in the morning they received a call from the police who told them that Khan was admitted to a hospital. Khan and three of his friends were allegedly trying to steal a buffalo around 2.30 am when the villagers spotted and gheraoed them.
Bareilly superintendent of police (city) Abhinandan Singh said, “Shahrukh Khan and his three aides, were in the process of stealing a buffalo from the house of a local farmer named Gajendra Pal. However, the farmer spotted them and raised an alarm. Within minutes, a crowd of nearly 50 villagers gathered there. While his aides managed to flee, Khan was caught and was thrashed for several hours.”
“We rescued him around 6 am and rushed him to hospital, where he later died. Based on a complaint by the farmer and the deceased’s brother, a case has been registered against Khan’s accomplices and 30 unidentified villagers,” the SP (city) added.
