Bihar native lynched by mob in Kerala's Kondotty on suspicion of theft

A migrant worker from Bihar was lynched by a mob in Kerala on Sunday. According to police, the people beat him up to death suspecting him to be a thief.

Malappuram (Kerala): A migrant worker was found murdered at Kondotty in Malappuram of Kerala on Sunday. The victim was identified as Rajesh Manji, a native of Bihar. The incident took place at Kizhisseri in Kondotty. The police launched a probe into the incident and suspected that he was beaten to death by a mob. Nine people have been detained in connection with the incident.

Those in custody have stated that Rajesh Manji died of injuries after falling from the terrace of a house during the robbery attempt. But in the post-mortem, it was found that he had been lynched. According to the police, people attacked him suspecting him to be a thief. They tortured him by questioning his whereabouts. He was beaten with sticks and after he became unconscious, they dragged his body to a nearby market area.

Later, locals, who found the body on the road, reported the incident to the police. On receiving the information, police rushed to the spot and shifted the body to a nearby private hospital. Later, Rajesh Manjhi's body was taken to Kozhikode Medical College Hospital where it was discovered his body bore several injuries. Malappuram district police chief S Sujith Das stated that the Bihar native was tortured for two hours.

Police during the investigation found that the eight accused were directly involved in thrashing Rajesh Manji whose hands were tied. The police recorded the arrest of eight people and are grilling one person, who is reported to have removed the evidence, including the local CCTV camera.