Gujarat: 7 people from Surat's housing society arrested for lynching ragpicker

The Gujarat police on Tuesday arrested seven people living in a Surat housing society for allegedly lynching a ragpicker. They suspected that he was a thief, police said. The incident occurred in the Amroli locality on the night of September 25. 

The seven persons were arrested on Monday night after the investigation.

The body of the victim, who is yet to be identified, was found lying outside a shop near Ashirwad Heights Society on Sunday with injury marks. The shop owner informed the police, the police inspector said.

"The postmortem revealed that the man was thrashed by a mob," he said.

The man was assaulted by some residents of the housing society on Sunday night with sticks and plastic pipes after he was caught by a security guard while trying to enter the society, Brahmbhatt said.

Prima facie, a group of residents thrashed him on suspicion that he was a thief trying to enter the society building, the police officer said.

"A case was registered under sections 302 (Punishment for murder) and 147 (Punishment for rioting) of the Indian Penal Code, and seven accused have been arrested. Further probe was underway," he added.

With inputs from PTI