A 70-year-old Dalit man suspected to have stolen some tarpaulins of a school was allegedly beaten to death by angry villagers at Bayalishmouza under the Cuttack Sadar police station. While the incident took place on Wednesday, victim Bansidhar Bhoi of local Dahigaon village succumbed to his injuries late on Thursday evening.
Registering a case, police are investigating into the case after detaining five persons in this connection. Meanwhile, hundreds of Dalits from the locality have gheraoed the police station demanding immediate arrest of the accused.
Sources said at least eight tarpaulins of the school were found missing on Tuesday and the villagers traced the stolen items in the house of Bansidhar on Wednesday. A mob soon dragged Bhoi from his house and beat him up with lathis and iron rods after tying him with a nearby lamp post.
On Thursday morning, a profusely bleeding Bhoi was found lying in a pool of blood at a deserted place outside the village. Police rushed him to the hospital, but Banshidhar died while undergoing treatment late on Thursday evening.
Enraged over the incident, some Dalit leaders took Bhoi’s body to the Bentakar police outpost and refused to cremate it until the murderers were arrested. However, after getting an assurance from the police that swift and stringent action would be taken against those found guilty, the body was cremated.