Accused of spreading COVID-19, man killed in Delhi

A 22-year-old man named Mehboob Ali was allegedly beaten to death in Delhi's Bawana area after he was suspected of a conspiracy to spread COVID-19. Ali recently returned from Bhopal Tablighi Jamaat conference.

New Delhi: A 22-year-old man was allegedly beaten to death in Delhi's Bawana after he was suspected of a conspiracy to spread COVID-19, police said on Wednesday.

The victim has been identified as Mehboob Ali, a resident of Harewali village in Bawana, they said.

Police said that Ali had gone to Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh for a Tablighi Jamaat conference and returned to the national capital in a truck of vegetables after 45 days.

He was held at the Azadpur vegetable market and released after a medical examination.

Police said that when he reached his village, rumours spread that Ali had a plan to spread coronavirus.

He was thrashed in the fields on Sunday. He was rushed to a hospital by police where he died, a senior police officer said.

Police registered a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and arrested three persons in this connection, they added.

(PTI report)