Two persons lost their lives in separate incidents after villagers severely beat them up suspecting them to be robbers in Yadadri-Bhuvangiri and Nizamabad districts on Tuesday night.
In the first incident, a 33-year-old man was beaten up by a mob that suspected him to be a robber at Jiyepalli in Bibinagar mandal late Tuesday night.
The victim, who suffered major injuries, died while being shifted to his village, Korremula in Ghatkesar, later the same night.
According to the police, victim Nimmala Balakrishna was visiting his relative K. Ramaswamy in Jiyepalli and around 8 p.m. when he was walking alone a few villagers assumed him to be a robber and attacked him.
An autodriver by profession, he had gone to the village on his three-wheeler and consumed alcohol with his relative at around 7 p.m. before he went out to relieve himself, Bibinagar police said.
Vigil stepped up
The villagers, who were in the grip of fear that robbers were on the prowl triggered by messages circulating in social media in the recent times, took the extreme step, the police suspect.
Balakrishna, who suffered severe bleeding injuries on the hands and legs, and no visible head injury, was found in the beside the school in the village. The police have stepped up vigil in all the villages, and according to Bibinagar police sub-Inspector, public inquiries were being conducted to zero in on the attackers. An investigation was underway and soon the culprits would be booked, he said.
The second incident took place in Chengal village of Bheemgal mandal of Nizamabad district when fear-stricken villagers carried away by rumours of a robber gang on the prowl attacked a tribal Malavath Devya and another person on Tuesday night. Devya died while undergoing treatment in a hospital in Hyderabad.
