Mistaken for thief, man killed by group of people in Thane

A 25-year-old man was killed allegedly by a group of people after they mistook him to be a thief in Thane district, police said on Sunday.

The incident took place around 1.30 am on Saturday in Bhiwandi town, an official from Narpoli police station said.

The accused caught hold of the victim, identified as Ramesh Murli Dharma, son of an auto-rickshaw driver, and mistook him to be a thief, he said.

They allegedly beat him up severely with iron rods and sticks and then fled. The victim died on the spot, the official said.

The culprits were identified as one Panchgulam Gupta and his servants, but the number of accused was not specified in the FIR, which was registered under Indian Penal Code Sections 302 (murder) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).

The body was sent to a government hospital in Bhiwandi for postmortem, the police said.

No arrest has been made so far in the case, they added.