Ranchi: Villagers chased and lynched a man they suspected to be a Maoist rebel in Jamshedpur district of Jharkhand Monday, the police said. The villagers were angry as earlier in the day members of the outlawed group had gunned down a man in the same district.

According to the police, three people riding on a motorcycle were asked to stop by a police team near Mousabini village in Jamshedpur district, some 170 km from Ranchi.

They, however, did not stop and villagers suspecting them to be Maoist rebels chased them and while two people managed to escape, the villagers caught one of them and beat him to death, the police said.

It has not been ascertained yet whether the victim was a Maoist, the police added.

The man was beaten to death in the presence of around 10 security personnel, officials said.

"More than 200 villagers caught the man and started beating him. The security personnel were outnumbered by the villagers," a police official said.

The villagers were angry over the death of Dhanish Kisku, who was secretary of the Village Defence Committee (VDC) formed to fight Maoist rebels.

Kisku was gunned down by Maoist rebels in the same district earlier Monday.

 

Source : IANS