Two men lynched by villagers in Jharkhand on suspicion of cattle theft

Moneycontrol  News

A mob lynched two Muslim men on allegations of cattle theft at a village  in Jharkhand on Wednesday morning.

The incident took place in the state's Godda district, which is about 300 km from Ranchi.

The police have identified the deceased as Sirabuddin Ansari, 35, and Murtaza Ansari, 30.

Four people have been arrested in connection with lynching, and an FIR has been filed against unidentified persons for stealing buffaloes.

Munshi Murmu, Kaleshwar Soren, Kishan Tudu and Harjohan Kisku are the four people who have been arrested.

"The victims had previous criminal cases of cattle theft registered against them," Godda SP Rajiv Ranjan Singh said, as quoted by The Times of India.

Bodies of the victims have been handed over to their families after the postmortem was conducted.

A video of the the incident has gone viral on social media. It shows one of the victims with injury marks on the head, slung over a bamboo pole and being dragged on the ground, The Times of India reports.

Five people, including the two victims, had gone to Dhulu village to steal buffaloes. Three out of the five people managed to flee the scene, but two were lyched by the mob.

The five people allegedly stole 13 buffaloes from Murmu, News18 reports.

"There is resentment among villagers about cattle thefts in the area. I am collecting reports about the incident." Godda MLA Pradeep Yadav of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) said, as quoted by The Times of India.

A fast-track court in Ranchi recently convicted 11 out of 12 accused of lyncing Alimuddin Ansari, a meat trader.