Orchard labourer beaten to death ‘over accusations of mango theft' in Surat, 5 arrested

Indian Express

2 days ago

Over accusations of mango theft in Surat, a 48-year-old labourer from Sultanpur district in Uttar Pradesh was allegedly beaten to death by a mango orchard leaseholder and four others.
Police arrested the five accused on Sunday.
According to police, Suresh Verma, a resident of Akota village in Bardoli taluka of Surat district, and another labourer, Ajay Banwasi, were working in a mango orchard when they were allegedly tied to a tree and beaten on May 21 by Ashfak Rayan and the other accused. Banwasi 'managed to escape from the spot' that night.
Rayan had rented the orchard from Rakesh Patel of Bardoli for the current mango season. He accused Verma and Banwashi of stealing mangoes worth Rs 50,000 and selling them to villagers.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Bardoli Rural Police Inspector P N Jadeja said, 'We will produce them before the Bardoli court and seek police remand. Ashfak and others have confessed to beating Suresh Verma over mango theft allegations. One more victim, Ajay Banwasi, is still missing, and we are trying to locate him.'
On the evening of the incident, Bardoli police said Verma's wife Bhanumati called Ashfak after failing to reach her husband by phone. Ashfak allegedly told her that Suresh had stolen mangoes worth Rs 50,000 and sold them to villagers, and allegedly demanded that she send her son, also named Suresh, with the money if she wanted her husband released.
He 'allowed her to hear Suresh's cries' over the phone to convince her he was in his custody. Bhanumati then contacted her son, who also works at a mango orchard in Surat, and urged him to act.
Police sources said the son traveled to Akota village and spoke with other labourers at the orchard. He then learned of the accusations against his father and Banwashi.
Police said labourers claimed that Ashfak and four others disposed of Suresh's body in a car that same night. When the son later called Ashfak to ask about his father, he was allegedly told that Suresh had left for Sultanpur.
On May 25, the son filed a missing person complaint with Bardoli Rural Police. During the investigation, police discovered that Kamrej Police had found an unidentified body in a canal at Shampura village on the same day. When Bardoli police and the son visited Kamrej police station, he identified the body from photographs as his father's. He also learned the body had already been cremated by Kamrej police.
On May 31, the son lodged a formal complaint against Ashfak and the four others with Bardoli Police Station. Rayan, Vinod Agrawal, Mohammed Umar Munihar, Dashrath Maurya, and Yakub Abdul Gaffar, all natives of Sultanpur, were booked under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita: 103(1) (murder), 238(a) (causing disappearance of evidence or giving false information), 308(2) (extortion), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 127(2) (wrongful confinement), 189(2) (unlawful assembly) and 191(2) (rioting).