Jawad (Madhya Pradesh): A group of people resorted to such a brutality that led to the death of a 45-year-old man in Jetliya village, 70km from the district headquarters, on Thursday.
It came to light on Saturday when a video clipping of the incident went viral on social media.
Suspecting that the man was involved in a burglary, the villagers beat up the man as well as tied him to a pickup van that dragged him several meters.
No sooner the video had gone viral than the police plunged into action and booked eight people including the husband of the Sarpanch of the village.
The police said they had arrested four persons and begun to search for others.
Additional superintendent of police of Neemuch, Sunder Singh Kanesh, said the man identified as Kanha alias Kanhiya Bheel, was a resident of Banada village.
Kanesh further said that police had arrested four accused including Mahendra Gurjar, husband of Jetliya village sarpanch.
Kanesh further said that a villager informed Dial 100 in Singoli police that the villagers had caught a thief.
They also said that the thief was injured and needed medical aid.
Dial 100 team rushed to the spot and took him to a nearby community health center.
He was referred to Neemuch district hospital where he died.
In the meantime, a video clipping of the man being battered and being tied to a pickup van went viral.
Kanesh further said that one of the accused had made the video and circulated it in the area.
During the investigation, it came to light that Kanha who was a resident of Banada village was just passing through Jetlia on the day of the incident.
A few villagers, along with the husband of the Sarpanch, caught hold of Kanha and bashed him up. His efforts to convince the villagers that he was not a thief came to naught.
The torture continued till he fell unconscious in a pool of blood.
