Karnataka: Man lynched in Bidar after suspecting him to be a child-lifter

Bidar, July 15: A 32-year-old man was lynched and two others were grievously injured after a mob attacked them following rumours of child lifting circulated in Karnataka's Bidar on Friday night.

The deceased has been identified as Mohammad Azam, a Google software engineer from Hyderabad. Azam and the two others injured were visiting a friend in the Handikera village when the horrific incident took place.

The incident occurred on Friday in Murki village of Bidar District. Three people from Hyderabad were visiting their friend Basheer in Murki village in a car. When the three of them were ready to leave, one of the guests distributed chocolates that he had brought from Qatar, to children. The villagers around mistook them for child snatchers and sent an alert on the village's Whatsapp group. After that villagers gathered, an argument started which progressed to full-blown scuffle.

In order to escape the wrath of the villagers, they stayed in their car and tried to escape but accidentally hit a bike en route as the car fell down a pit.

Speaking on the incident, G Parameshwara Karnataka Deputy CM said,''I am looking into it, there were complaints earlier also from Bidar & Gulbarga dist regarding child lifting that's why police is closely looking at it.''

Meanwhile, two individuals, a Whatsapp admin and a member who posted an alert about alleged child lifters in Karnataka have been arrested, reported Zee Media.

This comes at a time when rumours about child lifting have led to numerous lynching incidents across the country.