PATN: A murder suspect was brutally thrashed by a mob and left almost dead in Bihar's Hajipur district on Saturday while policemen watched.

Ravi Kumar, a student in his 20s, had allegedly killed his friend Om Prakash in a quarrel over a cell phone in Hajipur's Pokhra neighbourhood, just 30 km from the state capital here.

The mob snatched him from police custody on Saturday morning and beat him with bamboo sticks and bricks and kicked him repeatedly. Ravi fell to the ground but they did not stop. They went on beating him and then some people smashed his head with bricks, an eyewitness said.

Ravi was taken to a local hospital in Hajipur and later shifted to the Patna Medical College.

"He is battling for his life in the hospital," a senior police official told IANS.

State police chief A.R. Sinha said a police official had been suspended and action would be taken against other policemen present at the time of incident. All the policemen reportedly stood by as mute spectators instead of rescuing the youth.

According to sources in Hajipur district administration, after news spread that Ravi had killed Om Prakash, the dead youth's relatives and friends gathered outside the police station to which Ravi had been taken and snatched him from the police and beat him.

The incident follows a similar case Tuesday when a mob lynched an alleged rapist in a village in Saran district.

Source : IANS