Gzb: Mob assaults man suspecting him of theft

In a chilling episode of mob justice, an unidentified man, later found to be mentally ill, was tied to a tree and brutally assaulted by a group of enraged villagers in Ghaziabad’s Dasna early Friday morning.

- Peeyush Khandelwal

The assault — captured in a series of photographs by an HT photojournalist - ended only when a police team intervened and rescued the man.

On Friday evening, police arrested three people and filed an FIR identifying 15 people, and listing another 10-15 people as unidentified.

The incident took place when a 38-year-old man, a resident of Pahasu in Bulandshahr district, was found walking through Dasna village around 5am, police said. Residents, already on edge due to a recent spate of theft rumours and alleged “drone surveillance” in the area, confronted him.

Police said the man was unable to provide “satisfactory answers” to the mob, prompting suspicion, investigators privy to the case told HT, asking not to be identified. Within minutes, dozens of locals gathered. Tensions escalated quickly.

“He couldn't give them any answers that made sense,” said the investigator cited above.