Man beaten up by mob dies

Sambalpur: A 28-year-old man from West Bengal was allegedly beaten up by locals on suspicion of theft at Motijharan on Wednesday resulting in his death on Thursday. The victim, Md. Alam Giri, was residing at Motijharan under Dhanupali police limits.

The incident took place when residents of Rajanagar in Motijharan caught Giri on Wednesday afternoon suspecting him of theft. The mob allegedly assaulted him before handing him over to police around 4 pm.

Though initial medical examination showed no external injuries, Giri fell unconscious the next morning while in police custody and was declared dead at the district headquarters hospital. "The deceased was recently released on bail in another theft case. We recovered two stolen phones from him on Wednesday, and he promised to return six more," said Aditya Mahakur, IIC, Dhanupali police station.

The victim's family has alleged that local residents severely beat up Giri before handing him over to police. While police deny any assault in custody, showing CCTV footage to support their claim, they await the autopsy report to determine if there were internal injuries. "Based on the post-mortem report, we will register a murder case and arrest those involved in the assault," Mahakur said.