19-Year-Old Student Killed On Suspicion Of Stealing Mangoes

Kolkata: A 19-year-old student was beaten to death by locals on suspicion that he stole mangoes from an orchard. The incident took place at the Haridevpur area in the southern fringes of Kolkata on June 2.

The first-year college student, Aniruddho Biswas succumbed to his injuries at a city hospital on Wednesday.

According TO EXIN Times, Police arrested two people, Bablu Balmiki and Chinmoy Sarkar, locals of Haridevpur, in this connection.

“My son was beaten up severely by some youths while he was sitting in the orchard. They kept shouting that he had stolen mangoes. My son pleaded with them but they did not listen,” Biswajit Biswas, the victim’s father, said. “After the incident when we went to the police to lodge an FIR and asked them to arrest the culprits, they shooed us off,” added Biswas.

According to family members Aniruddho passed his Higher Secondary examination this year, in first division. He then took admission at Asutosh College, in computer science.

Family members also said he was ill for the last few weeks. On June 2, his mother asked his friends to take him out for some fresh air.

They took him to a nearby mango orchard in the afternoon. A few seconds later, a group of people, holding iron rods and bamboo poles, confronted them.

“The mob caught up with Aniruddho and alleged that he stole mangoes from the orchard. He kept pleading that he was a neighbour and not a thief, but no one paid heed and started beating him up. His was hit on his head with an iron rod and lost consciousness,” Biswas said.

Aniruddho was first taken to the M R Bangur government hospital and then shifted to a private hospital as his condition deteriorated. He died late on Tuesday night.

“We have arrested two persons in this connection and a case has been initiated. We are investigating the matter to find out what drove the accused to beat up the youth critically just for stealing some mangoes,” said an officer of Kolkata police.