(Representational Photo)

By Sweety Kumari

A man of about 50 was allegedly beaten to death on the suspicion of being a thief on Sunday morning at Bhangar in South 24 Paraganas district of West Bengal, where several cases of mob lynching due to rumours have surfaced in the past few weeks.

The victim, identified as Azgar Molla from the town’s Phulbari area, was found lying 500m from the Bhangar police station, which comes under the jurisdiction of the Kolkata Police. At first the onlookers thought the man was intoxicated, but he was declared dead on arrival when taken to hospital.

According to locals, they had arranged a night watch in the area following a theft in Bhangar Bazar. The mob-lynching is thought to have taken place at 4.30 am. It is alleged that no one came forward to save the man.

The police have sent the body for a postmortem and started an investigation even though they have received no complaint.

“Every day such incidents take place, but have we seen police acting sternly against the culprits? If police start beating the accused people, it will serve as a deterrent,” said BJP leader Sajal Ghosh.

This story was originally published in indianexpress.com. Read the full story here.