Delhi: Man lynched for snatching mobile phone in Narela, 2 arrested

A 20-year-old man was tied up by some factory workers and lynched to death after he was caught while snatching a mobile phone in Narela, Delhi, police said. Cops arrested two of the alleged killers on Thursday, reported The Hindustan Times

The victim’s body was then thrown in a canal, investigators added.

“There were four-five men involved in the killing. We have arrested two suspects and are on the lookout for the others,” said Rajeev Ranjan, deputy commissioner of police (outer-north district).

However, in Narela lynching case police are seeking legal opinion on whether they should file a case against the victim, Mohammad Sajjad. Cops have not moved to file a case against Sajjad since the man from whom the mobile phone was allegedly snatched has not demanded any police action in the case.

According to the report in The Hindustan Times, Sajjad lived with his mother in the JJ Colony in Bawana and worked odd jobs to earn his living. Police officials said so far they have not found any previous criminal records against him.

The alleged lynching took place on March 8, when Sajjad and his three friends were reportedly walking along the Bawana Canal. They spotted some factory workers taking a bath in the canal. The four men allegedly snatched the mobile phone of one of those workers, identified as Bablu Khiladi.

Khiladi then shouted for help and alerted other workers who rushed to the spot. And though his friends managed to escape with the stolen mobile phone, Sajjad was caught by the workers and initially thrashed at the spot.

The workers kept beating Sajjad and asking him to return the stolen phone.

The men then took Sajjad to a factory in Narela Industrial Area where they were employed, after they were unable to recover the phone. They tied up Sajjad and thrashed him again till he died, police said. The alleged killers then dumped his body in Haiderpur Canal, with his limbs still tied.

“Sajjad’s friends, meanwhile, visited his mother and handed over the stolen mobile phone to her and informed her that her son had been caught by some people while snatching the phone,” the DCP said.

Sajjad’s mother then approached the Narela police to register a missing complaint, but she did not tell the police the circumstances in which he disappeared, nor did she hand over the stolen phone to the investigators, reported Hindustan Times.

On March 11, Sajjad’s body was recovered from the Haiderpur Canal, under the jurisdiction of KN Katju Marg police station. The police officials checked the records of missing persons and identified the body as that of Sajjad.

“When Sajjad’s mother got to know that her son was dead, she produced the phone before the police, told them about the circumstances of her son’s disappearance and mentioned the role of his three friends who had managed to escape,” the DCP said. By this time, Sajjad’s three friends allegedly involved in the snatching crime with him, had fled.