A 32-year-old Google techie and three others were thrashed by a mob in Bidar district of Karnataka on suspicion of child-lifting on Saturday.
Mohammed Azam Ahmed, a software engineer with Google, died on the spot. Whereas, the other three victims, including a Qatari citizen, suffered critical injuries.
According to The Indian Express report, the four victims were travelling to inspect a land they were interested in purchasing, after attending a social function at a relative’s.
The wife of one of the victims told IE, “They stopped for tea near a school at Murki village in Aurad taluka at about 4.30 pm where they saw school children heading home. Salham started handing out foreign chocolates, which he was carrying, to students. However, someone raised an alarm that strangers were luring kids with chocolates and people started gathering immediately.”
After sensing danger, the four men had fled in their vehicles. However, by then the crowd had taken their pictures and shared it on WhatsApp saying these men were child-lifters and should be caught.
A few miles ahead, people from a nearby village caught hold of the four men and thrashed them brutally.
MLA Ahmed Balala said, “I met the victims and they said that two policemen reached the spot but could not prevent the mob from beating them up.”
The police have now arrested three administrators of WhatsApp groups who circulated these rumours. 30 more arrests have been made of people who were part of the mob.