A 23-year-old man was today allegedly tied to a pole and beaten to death by some truck drivers and workers at a gowdown in Bhalswa Dairy area of northwest Delhi, police said.
The matter came to light around 10 AM, when a resident made a PCR call reporting that the youth has been lynched.
The identity of the deceased has been ascertained as a rag picker Rafeequl, they said.
According to a senior police official, the deceased along with five friends had allegedly beat up a truck driver, one among the attackers, after robbing him this morning following which the driver along with his associates beat him up.
Truck driver, Ramakant Pandey, had arrived here from Mumbai this morning and after his truck was gone for offloading at the godown, he went to a secluded area to attend nature's call at around 9 AM when he was attacked by six youths, the official said.
"Pandey claimed that he had Rs 7000, part of his payment for the delivery in his pocket. He tried to resist but was beaten up. He, however, managed to get hold of Rafeequl while others managed flee with his money," the official said.
"Pandey then called others, two men working at the godown, namely Pawan and Rajkumar, and then they tied Rafeequl to a pole and beat him up. Soon many more men gathered and the mob beat up Rafeequl who started bleeding profusely," the official said.
A local resident alerted the police and the men dispersed as police reached the spot. Police rushed Rafeequl to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead.
"Police have registered a case of murder against the trio and they were being questioned. A case of robbery and assault has also been registered against Rafeequl's associates on the basis of Ramakant's statement," said DCP northwest Vijay Singh.
Family members of Rafeequl alleged that the truck drivers had confined their son and had asked them to pay Rs 5000 for his release.
They told police, that Rafeequl had gone to steal a battery and was caught after which the drivers had been asking for money and killed him when money was not paid.
They also alleged that Rafeequl was stabbed and he died due to excessive bleeding.
According to the locals, Rafeequl hails from Bangladesh and had settled in the area years ago. He is married and lived with his wife and two kids, in the JJ cluster of the area.
