20-year-old from Saharanpur killed in Himachal village for ‘smuggling cattle’

A 20-year-old from Saharanpur was allegedly killed in Sarahan by villagers who believed he was involved in smuggling of cattle, police said. Four others, alleged to be part of the same smuggling gang, were beaten up. Sarahan is located 37 km from Nahan, the headquarters of Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmaur district. The incident comes weeks after a man was lynched in Dadri over rumours that he and his family stored and consumed beef. According to police, the incident took place Wednesday night, when villagers noticed a “rashly driven” truck with cattle heading towards Nahan-Paonta Sahib, bordering Dehradun. Suspecting that the cattle were being taken to Uttar Pradesh for slaughter, a few people chased the truck and alerted the local police station, police said. But before police could intercept the vehicle on Sarahan-Nahan road, the truck crashed as the driver failed to negotiate a sharp turn. Police said villagers then secured the cattle, caught four people travelling in the truck and beat them up. Police said the victim, Noman, was travelling in a different vehicle that was allegedly escorting the truck. According to police, villagers also caught Noman and beat him. The five men eventually escaped by rolling down a mountainside, but villagers caught four of them again and handed them over to the police. Police found a critically-injured Noman by the mountainside the next day. He was taken to a local hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries Thursday.   Indian Express