This story is from July 12, 2015

Ennore locals mistake man for thief, beat him to death

Residents in Ennore beat a man to death after mistaking him for a burglar early on Saturday morning. The unidentified man, who police say is from Odisha, swooned and died after the attack. Scared locals then dumped his body and fled.
Ennore locals mistake man for thief, beat him to death
CHENNAI: Residents in Ennore beat a man to death after mistaking him for a burglar early on Saturday morning. The unidentified man, who police say is from Odisha, swooned and died after the attack. Scared locals then dumped his body and fled.
The incident bears a striking similarity to an episode in Pallikaranai three years back where a man from Andhra Pradesh was beaten up by a mob after being suspected as a burglar from ‘north India’.
In May this year, a youth from Bihar met a similar fate before being rescued.
However, following Saturday’s incident, the Ennore police have only registered a case of unnatural death and sent the body to Stanley Medical College Hospital (SMCH) for autopsy. An investigation officer denied that the man was attacked by locals and that he died of natural causes.
“We didn’t find any injury marks on his body. We are waiting for the doctor’s report to know the cause of his death. If the report confirms that the man died of assault, we will alter the case into a murder,” said the officer.
Police said the body was discovered by an Ennore resident Balaji, a painter, in a bush near a bridge. Following his complaint, . policemen from the Ennore police station rushed to the spot, retrieved the body and conducted inquiries. They interrogated locals, autorickshaw drivers and customers at nearby tea shop. They also registered a case under section 174 CrPC.
Preliminary inquiries revealed that the man, who was clad in khaki shorts, was spotted near the EB staff quarters on Friday evening. The body was found near a bridge some 500 metres away from the quarters.
Sources said the residents found the man loitering on the streets at midnight and suspected him to be a thief. Some locals confronted him and asked questions. When the man did not give ‘proper’ answers, the mob bashed him up. Police said the man reportedly spoke to the locals in Odia and that have led them to believe that he hailed from the eastern state. Investigations are on to trace the his identity.
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