In Simdega, Jharkhand, a man was beaten to death by a mob on Tuesday for allegedly cutting down a sacred tree and hurting religious sentiments.
The incident took place in the Kolebira police station area on Tuesday afternoon. The deceased has been identified as Sanju Pradhan.
According to the police, about 100 to 150 people killed the victim because he hurt religious feelings by cutting and selling parts of a particular tree.
“This tree has religious significance for the Munda community and they are very passionate about it. The deceased had cut down these trees in October 2021. It hurt local religious feelings. Today a large number of people had a meeting and decided to beat the alleged perpetrator, which killed the victim,” the Simdega police said.
The victim’s family told the police that the mob first beat him with sticks and bricks, then set him on fire, after which he died.
“The body sent for postmortem. His death was due to beating or fire. It known after the postmortem. An FIR registered with proper provisions. The accused identified,” Simdega Superintendent of Police Shams Tabrez said.
However, Pradhan allegedly cut trees again, which angered the villagers. They called a meeting to discuss the matter, which not attended by Pradhan.
Significantly, the Jharkhand Assembly had passed the Prevention of Mob Violence and Mob Lynching Bill, 2021 in December last year.
Simdega Superintendent of Police Shams Tabrez said that Pradhan’s body sent for postmortem. “FIR registered with appropriate sections,” he said. “Identification of accused is going on.”