A Muslim man was beaten to death by a mob after he was accused of chanting “Pakistan Zindabad” during a local cricket match in Karnataka’s Mangaluru on Sunday.
Following the incident, over 10 individuals were arrested.
The deceased was identified as Ashraf, a resident of Pulpally in Kerala’s Wayanad district.
The brother of Ashraf, Jabbar, is on his way to Mangaluru to receive the body, Hameed, another kin of the deceased said to Maktoob.
Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara confirmed the incident, stating that the victim did not die immediately but succumbed to his injuries later.
He added that a detailed report is awaited and arrests have been made.
“An incident of mob lynching has been reported involving an unidentified individual. I was informed that there are reports he was shouting ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ during a local cricket match, which led some people to beat him. He didn’t die on the spot but passed away later. I’m yet to receive the full report. Around 10 to 12 people have been arrested and further investigation is underway,” the minister told news agency PTI.
Witnesses said the violence began with a scuffle between the victim and a man named Sachin, which quickly escalated into a group assault.
While some bystanders tried to intervene, a section of the crowd continued to beat the man with sticks and kicks.
Police were informed around 5:30 pm after the victim’s body was discovered near a temple.
Commissioner of Police Anupam Agrawal said the arrested include Sachin T (26) from Thiruvail village, Devadas (50) from Thiruvail, Manjunath (32) from Thiruvail, Saideep (29) from Subramanya Nagar, Nitesh Kumar alias Santosh (33) from Mangala Nagar, Dheekshith Kumar (32) from Kudupu Katte, Sandeep (23) from Vamanjoor, Vivian Alvares (41) from Kudpadu, Sridatta (32) from Kudupu Katte, Rahul (23) from Kaibattalu, Bejai, Pradeep Kumar (35) from Jyothi Nagar in Kulasekhar, Manish Shetty (21) from Shaktinagar, Dhanush (31), Dheekshith (27) from Kulasekhar, and Kishore Kumar (37) from Kudupu.
A post-mortem conducted at Wenlock District Hospital confirmed that he died from internal bleeding and shock caused by repeated blows to his back.
Investigators also recorded injuries on his limbs, back, buttocks, and genitals, reportedly inflicted with wooden logs.
The case was registered following a complaint by 33-year-old local resident Deepak Kumar. Nineteen people have been named in the First Information Report (FIR), and more suspects are likely to be identified through analysis of CCTV footage and mobile data.
