AT 5 AM on Sunday, a young man was beaten to death by a mob in Appapada near Kurar village in Malad (East).
The deceased was allegedly caught making off with two pairs of trousers and Rs 60 in cash. The Kurar police have been unable to identify the young man. No one has been arrested for the killing.
The theft allegedly occurred in a bamboo hut in Popad Compound, the house of Subhankar Mishra (48), his wife, two sons and daughter-in-law. ‘‘I was out at the time of the robbery,’’ said Mishra. A watchman himself, his sons and several of his neighbours also serve as security guards in residential buildings in Kandivli.
His visibly shaken wife—she refused to give her name—had just returned to the house after identifying the body of the battered thief at Bhagwati Hospital in Borivali.
‘‘My neighbour, Shyam Lal, was on his way home with a barrel of water when he saw the man hiding in the bushes near our house,’’ she said. Suspicious, Lal raised an alarm.
‘‘About 250 people gathered and began beating the man and asking him what his business was in the area,’’ Subhankar’s wife continued.
The young man allegedly admitted he had stolen two pairs of trousers from the Subhankars’ house and Rs 60 in cash from the pocket of a shirt lying nearby. He also said he had accomplices but refused to name them or say how many.
‘‘We have registered a police case of theft,’’ said Senior Police Inspector Surendra Paithankar. ‘‘No one is coming forward as witnesses. We are now waiting for the post-mortem report from Bhagwati Hospital and will conduct our investigation accordingly.’’