Sangareddy: A man, who was caught allegedly while stealing copper wires from an agricultural field in Gummadidala village, was thrashed and allegedly electrocuted after being tied to a tree in the early hours of Sunday.
Eyewitnesses and family members of the victim told the police that B Mallesham of Gummadidala village was ‘given’ an electric shock as punishment.
According to the police, since copper wires were frequently going missing from agriculture fields, the farmers had kept a watch. In the early hours of Sunday, they reportedly caught Mallesham stealing the copper wires.
After thrashing him, they took him to the Rythu Sangam building in the village around 6 am, where he was again beaten after being tied to a tree. Even though he was pleading guilty, Mallesham was then administered an electric shock, killing him on the spot even as several villagers watched on.
Speaking to Telangana Today, Gummadidala Sub-inspector Vijay Krishna said some eyewitnesses and family members of the victim informed the police that Mallesham was electrocuted.
However, there were no visible wounds on his body, the SI said, adding that doctors, who performed the postmortem, also suspected that Mallesham died of electric shock.
The actual cause of death would be known once the autopsy report came, he said, adding that though some eyewitnesses captured videos of the incident, they were not clear because they were shot mostly in the dark.
Based on the video footage, the police were trying to identify the accused. A case of murder and an SC/ST Atrocity case was registered following a complaint from Mallesham’s wife Meena.
Mallesham is survived by Meena and three children. Patancheru DSP Bheem Reddy is investigating the case.