Man mistaken for child-lifter beaten, lands up in hospital

Thane: Four people have been booked allegedly for assaulting a man in Diva on Thursday, suspecting him to a be child-lifter. Pintu Nisar, a helper at an eatery, has been admitted to hospital with multiple injuries, the police said.
A police officer said Nisar was standing by the road as a truck passed at high speed. He stepped back without realising that a little girl was standing behind him and she fell down. “As he gave her a hand to lift her, she raised an alarm and her mother who was away suspected him to be a child-lifter and started shooting,” said a police officer.
People at the spot gathered and started assaulting him with wooden planks and rods even as the man pleaded innocence and tried to explain what had happened.
Someone alerted the Mumbra police who rescued the man from the crowd and took him to hospital. Later a case was registered against four people and other unidentified persons.
The police blamed rumours that are on rife on social media about child-lifters and have appealed to people to maintain caution as innocent persons get beaten up. “People must inform the police before taking any drastic step,” said an officer. —Nishikant Karlikar