Jharkhand: 5-year-old boy dies after being run over by tractor, 15-year-old driver allegedly beaten to death

Both were residents of the same village. The teenager was ploughing the field and the child was sitting next to him. Suddenly, the child fell and came under the wheels of the vehicle.

Lohardaga (Jharkhand): A five-year-old boy died after being run over by a tractor in Jharkhand's Lohardaga district. Following which, a 15-year-old boy who was driving the tractor was allegedly beaten to death by the locals.

The incident took place in Areya village under Bagadu police station area of the district. The five-year-old has been identified as Shreyansh, son of Neeraj Sahu while the other boy is Vishal Prajapati, son of Sanjay Prajapati. Both were residents of Areya village.

Vishal was driving a tractor to plough the fields of Munna Uraon in Nirhu town, around two km away from the village. Shreyansh was sitting beside him in the tractor. Shreyansh accidentally fell from the vehicle and landed on the rotating blades. He was seriously injured after being slashed by the sharp blades and succumbed to his injuries on the spot.

After the incident, Vishal was allegedly thrashed by the locals and thrown in front of the wheels of the tractor. He too was seriously injured and likewise Shreyansh he died on the spot. After getting information about the incident, police reached the spot and sent the two bodies to Lohardaga Sadar Hospital for post-mortem.

Though a section of the villagers alleged that Vishal was beaten to death by the angry locals, others said that he died after accidentally falling in front of the tractor. Police refuted allegations of mob lynching.

Pankaj Kumar Sharma, in-charge of Bagadu police station said, "When he came here we say one child in a seriously injured condition while another, who was the tractor's driver was lying under the tractor's wheels. Investigations are on and the actual cause of death can be ascertained after seeing the postmortem report," Sharma said.

On asked whether the boy was beaten to death by the locals, Sharma said that by the time the police reached the spot there were only a few people around.