A group of people on Sunday allegedly lynched a man in Maharajpur area of Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur district on suspicion that he was a 'terrorist' from Pakistan.
The Uttar Pradesh police have arrested nine people for beating the 42-year-old unidentified man to death and have secured their judicial custody.
The arrested have been identified as Arun Kumar, Praveen Kushwaha, Raghvendra and Akhilesh Yadav of Shekhpur village; Bajnath Yadav, Ram Sajeevan, Abhishek Kumar and Kallu Kashyap of Jana village; and Rohit Yadav of Pyondi village.
The police have registered cases under sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapon) and 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code.
The incident took place when a rumour started to spread about a 'Pakistani terrorist' hiding in the area, according to Sukh Ram Rawat, Sheikhpura police outpost in-charge, The Indian Express reported.
"While questioning him about his background, the locals started beating him up. More people from nearby localities joined in and assaulted the man with sticks. Some of them hit him with a sharp edged weapon," Rawat added.
Another police officer said that the mob was trying to throw the man in a river but in vain.
"A group of men [were] trying to throw the man in a river... After seeing the police, they left the victim and fled," Maharajpur Station Officer Akhilesh Kumar said.
The police rushed the victim to a hospital where the doctors declared him brought dead, Kumar said, adding that he was a Muslim.
"We have concluded that the victim is a Muslim after physical verification," he said.
