Youth lynched by irate villagers in Himachal

Youth lynched by irate villagers in Himachal

Vijyender Sharma

SHIMLA----Close on the heels of the Dadri episode in UP, Noman, a 20-year old man from Saharanpur who was allegedly involved in inter-state cattle smuggling was lynched by irate villagers at Sarahan, 37 km from Nahan, the district headquarters of Sirmaur in Himachal Pradesh.The villagers allegedly attacked Noman's vehicle and beat him up along with others suspecting that the cattle was being taken for slaughter for beef in UP. The incident occurred on Wednesday night.Reports said Noman was one among a five-member gang who were transporting the cattle to Saharanpur (UP) from Himachal Pradesh in a truck. Locals at Sarahan, noticing the movement of the truck, chased it, besides alerting the local police station.However before the police could intercept the vehicles at 'nakas' laid-up on the Sarahan-Nahan road, the truck suffered an accident while the driver was trying to take a sharp turn. The cattle, injured in the accident, were later rescued by villagers. But the men were beaten up mercilessly by the villagers. Even though Noman, who was found in a critical condition by the police, was admitted to a local hospital, he later succumbed to his injuries. A case under section 302 IPC has been registered against unknown persons relating to his death. No arrest has been made so far, said Soumya Sambasivan, Superintendent of Police, Nahan. "We have got the postmortem of the victim done by a team of doctors at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) Shimla. The body was also hand over to his relatives – who had arrived from Saharanpur. Noman's four accomplices, who were taken into custody by the police, have now been arrested under section 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty Animals Act and section 429 IPC. "They have been shown photographs of the villagers for identification but so far none of the villagers have been named or arrest in the FIR," said Soumya.  She said the investigations have revealed that Noman was the main person involved in the cattle smuggling in UP and has several cases pending against him in UP. "The police investigations in the FIR relating to Noman's death will make progress only if four other accused identify the villagers involved in their beating and assault," said Soumya Sambasivan.