Kerala man beaten to death in Bengal: 5 arrested, 2 minors detained
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Kolkata: Five people have been arrested and two minors detained for allegedly beating a man from Kerala to death in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district, police said on Sunday.
According to police, the man was allegedly tied up with a rope and assaulted in the Kultali area on suspicion of being a thief. He later succumbed to his injuries.
The incident took place on June 9, but police came to know about the details of the alleged crime only on Saturday after videos related to the incident surfaced on social media.
Following this, police registered a First Information Report (FIR). Eight people were initially detained, of whom five were arrested late Saturday night, two minors were detained, and one person was released. All those detained and arrested will be produced before a court later in the day.
According to local sources, the Kerala resident had come to the Sankijahan area of Kultali to visit an acquaintance for work. He went to a nearby market on the morning of June 9. As he was unfamiliar with the area’s roads, he mistakenly entered another locality.
Sources said the man did not know Bengali, and some locals questioned him after noticing him moving around the area. A group of residents allegedly asked him to show his identity card. The situation reportedly escalated after some people suspected him of being a thief.
The man was then allegedly tied with a rope and beaten by locals.
After receiving information that a severely injured person was lying on the road, officers from Kultali police station reached the spot. He was taken to Jaynagar-Kultali Rural Hospital, where doctors declared him dead. Police sent the body for post-mortem examination.
A police source said the exact cause of death was not clear initially. However, after police found a video on social media showing the man being tied up and assaulted, they identified him as the same person who was attacked by locals.
Police then registered an FIR and made the arrests.
The police are investigating all aspects of the incident, and the identity of the deceased is yet to be confirmed.
Further details are awaited.
With IANS inputs
