Citing autopsy, police lets off accused of murder in Jharkhand mob lynching

Ranchi: Nearly four months after a Jharkhand man was lynched, the police dropped the murder charge against the 11 accused.

The police said they were unable to charge the accused under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code because the postmortem report cited cardiac arrest as the reason for the death of 24-year-old Tabrez Ansari.

The police, however, have charged the 11 accused under Section 304 of the IPC, which deals with culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

Earlier, the murder charge was invoked in the FIR filed on a complaint by Ansari’s wife.

Ansari was attacked by a mob in Kharsawan district of Jharkhand on the suspicion of theft on June 18. He was beaten up mercilessly for hours before being handed over to the police. He succumbed to his injuries at a local hospital on June 22.

He was first admitted to Sadar hospital on Monday morning and then referred to Tata Main Hospital, Jamshedpur.

Tabrez's family has alleged that the attack was communal and that he was made to chant 'Jai Shri Ram' and 'Jai Hanuman'.

"Some locals thrashed Tabrez and later gave him over to the police. He was held on suspicion of theft but it was a communal attack. He was beaten because he had a Muslim name. They made him chant 'Jai Shri Ram' and 'Jai Hanuman' again and again," Tabrez's relative Maqsood Alam told ANI.

He further claimed that the family was not allowed to meet him at the hospital.

"We have the video of the incident. I demand the culprits should be arrested," Alam added.

"We want action against the police personnel who were on duty at that time," another relative said.