Neredmet: Mob thrashes drunk suspect, over suspicion of being 'child lifter'

Hyderabad: Despite massive campaigns by the Rachakonda police against the false reports of inter-state gangs on the prowl to kidnap children, the public seems to have not taken it seriously and are mistaking strangers walking in their residential areas for kidnappers. They are not just stopping with that. Instead of handing over the suspects to the police, the public is roughing them up.

A similar incident took place at Neredmet on Sunday morning, where a drunk man was mistaken for a kidnapper when he moved closer towards kids playing in a street. He was roughed up and handed over to the police.

Sudhakar lives with his wife, two daughters and a son in Chandragiri Colony. He works as an electrician and used to go to labour adda daily, where daily labourers wait for contractors to pick them for work.

On Sunday morning, a drunk Sudhakar was heading towards the labour adda in the locality. While passing through Vinayak Nagar, he saw some children playing on the road and tried to move them away from his path.

The local people, who saw Sudhakar touching the children, mistook him for a kidnapper and beat him black and blue. He was later handed over to the police.

Neredmet inspector A Narsimha Swamy said, “The reports that a kidnapper was caught are false. Sudhakar is an electrician. He was drunk and also wearing soiled clothes, which made the local people mistake him for a kidnapper.”

The inspector said that the police team inquired about Sudhakar with other labourers and also checked his fingerprints with the criminal database. “Nothing was found against him. He was living with his family in the neighbouring colony. However, the public did not listen to him and roughed him up. He was set free after verifying his ante-cedents,” said the inspector.