Indian Police Help Mob Beat Suspected Thief

Police in eastern India helped a mob beat a suspected thief in front of a television camera.

Police in eastern India helped a mob beat a suspected thief in front of a television camera, officials said on Tuesday, with one policeman tying the victim to his motorbike and dragging him until he passed out.

The mob accused Mohammed Aurangzeb of stealing a woman's gold chain on Monday in Bhagalpur district of Bihar state, one of India's most lawless regions.

Television pictures showed men had tied the shirtless young man's hands behind his back, and were viciously kicking and punching him as he writhed on the ground, soaked in sweat and mud, begging for mercy, his trousers unbuttoned.

When the police turned up, one constable tied Aurangzeb's legs to the back of a police motorbike, and dragged him along the road on his stomach and chest.

"He was dragged for some time and the police constable stopped his bike only when Aurangzeb lost consciousness," Afzal Amanullah, the state's home secretary, told a news conference on Tuesday in Patna, the state capital.

"This was an inhuman act and an unfortunate incident of a policeman taking the law into his own hands," he added.

One policeman has been suspended. Aurangzeb has been arrested for robbery and taken to a prison hospital with serious injuries.

Police say Aurangzeb is a small-time thief who has been caught stealing in the past.