BJP MP to pay for legal expenses of 4 men accused of Jharkhand lynching

Godda (Jharkhand): A BJP MP from Jharkhand has decided to pay for the legal expenses of four men accused of killing two others on suspicion of cattle theft in the state. The lawmaker, Nishikant Dubey, said that he believes the four men were being unfairly targeted for mob lynching.

Dubey, who represents the Godda constituency in Parliament, termed it as his personal decision.

"The entire village was involved in the beating. Why are these four people being singled out just because their cattle was stolen?" the parliamentarian told NDTV.

Two Muslim men, suspected to be cattle thieves, were lynched on Wednesday by a vigilante group in the Godda district.

The two were part of a gang of five that came to the village and reportedly stole 13 buffaloes. However, they were caught after some villagers woke up and raised an alarm. Following this, several people gathered and chased the thieves.

"Villagers caught hold of two of the thieves and started beating them due to which they died", said Godda Superintendent of Police (SP) Rajeev Ranjan Singh.

Three others managed to escape.

Also Read: 2 Muslim men lynched by ‘gau rakshaks’ on suspicion of cattle theft in J’khand

The victims have been identified as Murtaza Ansari (30) and Sirabuddin Ansari (35) and belonged to a nearby village, about 30-40 km from the crime spot.

One of the victims of the lynching had in the past faced two cases of cattle theft in the neighbouring Dumka district, a police officer said.

Two First Information Reports (FIRs) have been registered in connection with the case and four people have been arrested.

The first FIR was lodged on the complaint of one of the arrested persons, Munsi Murmu, against those killed and others for theft, Superintendent of Police, Rajiv Ranjan told reporters.

The second FIR was lodged on the complaint of Imran Ansari, the father of one of those killed for rioting and murder among other charges, he said.

Besides Munsi Murmu, the other arrested accused in the case are Kameshwar Soren, Kishan Rai and Bhukul Kishku, the police said.