A 35-year-old man was lynched while six of his friends were seriously injured on Wednesday in an attack by a group of villagers armed with sticks and stones amid rumours that a child-lifter gang was on the prowl in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar district, police said.
The victims, all hailing from Indore, had travelled to Baroli village, around 60 kms from Dhar, to recover money from some local labourers but were attacked by a mob this noon, district superintendent of police Aditya Pratap Singh said.
He said the labourers allegedly spread rumours that the seven men were child-lifters, apparently to avoid returning the money they had taken as advance from one of the victims.
Villagers stoned the victims, set one of their cars on fire and damaged another one, the SP said.
"One of the victims, Vinod Mukati, had hired five labourers from the village for some work and had paid them Rs 50,000 each as advance. The labourers had initially travelled to Indore but returned to Baroli in Dhar district without doing their job," Singh added.
He said when the victims reached Baroli to recover the money, the labourers allegedly spread rumours that they were child lifters, following which they were attacked.
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While Ganesh Patel was killed in the attack, Mukati and five others were grievously injured, the officer said, adding they were rushed to a hospital in Indore.
A case has been registered against more than 12 unidentified persons, he said, adding that no arrest is made so far.