Dhar (MP): One person was killed and five others injured, after a mob of angry villagers thrashed them on suspicion of child lifting in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar district on Wednesday.
According to reports, the villagers thrashed the group of farmers, suspecting them to be child-lifters. The mob also hurled stones at the group's car before torching it.
The incident took place in Borlai village under the Manawar police stations limits.
The injured farmers were rushed to the hospital, where one of them died. The other injured farmers are currently availing treatment.
One of the victims, Vinod Mukati, a resident of Shivpurkheda in the neighbouring Indore district, said that five labourers from the village used to work for the farmers, and were also paid a sum of Rs 50,000 in advance.
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However, the labourers stopped turning up for work after receiving the amount, Mukati said.
"They told us to come to their village and take back the amount. We informed the Tirla police station, who asked us to visit the village," he said.
Mukati said that as soon as they reached the village, their car was pelted with stones. Rumours soon started floating around that the farmers were child-lifters, following which they were thrashed.
Dhar SP Aditya Pratap Singh said that the matter was related to a "money transaction". He added that the villagers chased the farmers from Khidkiya to Borlai, where they thrashed them.
"We have registered a case under sections 302 and 307 of the IPC. An investigation is underway," he said.
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