HYDERABAD: As many as 16 persons including a juvenile boy and four students were arrested on Tuesday by the Chandrayangutta police in connection with the lynching of a cross-dresser after he was mistaken for a kidnapper. The accused also include two web-channel reporters, who were spreading false information.Following the incident of lynching on Saturday night, the police collected the footage from CCTV cameras and also the videos captured in the mobile phones by the onlookers. About 40 persons were taken into custody and questioned. However, only 16 persons including the minor boy were found to have hit the victim.
South zone DCP V Satyanarayana said the accused have been identified as Mohammed Sohail (19), Mohammed Muqthar (21), Hani Bin Haid (60), Shaik Mahmood Bin Ahmed Fazil AHmed (19), Syed Ashraf Moinuddin (18), Mohammed Sumair (20), Mohammed Akram Ali (30), Sarfaraz Khan (19), Hussain Saadi (26), Mohammed Rafi (29), Mohammed Sirajuddin (26), Abdullah Bin Sultan Lahaji (50), Mohammed Basheer (34) and a minor boy (15).
During questioning, the accused confessed to having attacked the beggars believing the rumours on social media that the child kidnapping gangs from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are on the prowl in Chandrayangutta area.The accused also confessed that they got influenced by the postings on social media by Syed Saleem and Subhan, both working as web-channel reporters. Saleem and Subhan have also been arrested in this regard, said the DCP. “A Maulana initially rescued two of the beggars when they were assaulted by the mob. He convinced them and dispersed the mob. But, a few minutes later, Chandraiah and Swamy, both draped in sarees were assaulted again by the mob during which Chandraiah died,” said the DCP. A case under sections 302, 3027, 332, 427, 147 and 148 r/w 1449 of IPC, and sections 3 (2) (5) of SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has been registered.
Four held at Madannapet
Four men — Shaik Khaleel alias Jilani alias Dollar (27), Mohammed Riyaz (25), Mohammed Farhan (26) and Shafi (26) — were arrested on Tuesday for attacking four cross dressers at Madannapet.
Crackdown on people spreading fake news
Two cases have been slapped against three persons for spreading fake news. On Monday, a mob tried to attack a woman who was allegedly drunk mistaking her for a kidnapper. On Tuesday, cops found that Ashiq Ahmed had telecast the incident live on Facebook while affirming the woman was a kidnapper. A Facebook page called Saraswat Tuitions, which has been sharing the video, has also been booked. In the third case, one Akhi Singh was caught for sharing pictures of a man carrying a bag, saying he was a kidnapper.
Chandraiah met a painful end
It was an agonising end for cross-dresser Chandraiah, who was lynched by a mob numbering over 1,000 in Chandrayangutta on Saturday night. According to the preliminary reports, his four rib cages were found broken and there were clots in the outer layer of his brain. “When he was brought to hospital, there were deep cuts all over his face and was covered in blood,” sources said. “It appears like he was thrashed with whatever the mob could lay their hands on, causing multiple injuries, they said.
Guidelines to regulate web channels
The city police has sent a proposal to the State government to regulate web channels and unregistered news channels that have been spreading fake news among public, resulting in mob violence and deaths. The proposal would be further forwarded to the Centre.
