Man mistaken to be a thief, dies after being thrashed in Hyderabad

A migrant worker, who was reportedly looking to buy food to take home for his children, was allegedly mistaken to be a thief and thrashed in a biryani restaurant at KPHB here, leading to his death the next day.

Around midnight on Wednesday, Rajesh was returning from work and was searching for eateries to take home some food. He saw a restaurant open near the JNTU metro station and is believed to have gone to the basement of the restaurant, where he saw a group of men celebrating.

The men, police said, were celebrating the birthday of the eatery manager and were allegedly having a liquor party.

“On seeing them, Rajesh requested if they could give him some leftover food. They say they thought he was a thief and started abusing and thrashing him. He suffered multiple injuries



and collapsed,” police said, adding that the men then left the place, leaving him unconscious in the basement.

When they returned to the eatery on Thursday around 11 am, they found Rajesh still lying there in a semi-conscious state. From the contact details found in his pocket, they called his wife Sathyabhama, who reached the spot and took him to their house. However, his condition worsened and he died before being shifted to the hospital late on Thursday evening.

Sathyabhama first approached the Madhapur police and lodged a complaint. However, she was asked to lodge a complaint at the KPHB police station based on jurisdiction. Subsequently, the police booked a case of murder and took up an investigation. Sources said four persons were taken into custody in connection with the murder.