When Police Fail, anarchy prevails

Thief captured, beaten to death
Preety Acharya / DNA

Mumbai: A 19-year-old thief, Laxman Nagesh Suryavanshi, was captured and beaten to death by residents of an Orlem colony near Malad early on Saturday morning. Residents of Sai Baba Nagar, on Orlem's Tank Road in Malad (W) allegedly nabbed the thief as he was trying to escape and tied him to an electric pole. "By the time we reached the spot the thief was already severely injured. Later, he was declared dead in hospital," said a police official from the Malad police station. The area has been a target for burglaries, and residents have voiced their frustration at what they see as police inaction towards these incidents

The police have registered an offense of murder against unknown persons. "The assailants have not been identified as yet. We are investigating the matter to find out who is responsible for the incident," said assistant commissioner of police, Malad division, Ramchandra Aher. "We are recording the statements of the residents before making arrests," said Deepak Fatangre, inspector, Malad police station.

Fed up of continuous thefts, the area's residents had recently set up a neighbourhood watch at night. It was this watch that noticed the suspicious movements of three thieves who had sneaked into the area at around 2am on Saturday. The residents chased the trio and managed to catch Suryavanshi, while his two associates got away. According to a resident, Suryavanshi was beaten up and paraded around the area by the crowd. He was then tied to an electric pole and beaten. "We did not think that he would die as a result of all this," said the resident, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Police officials say Suryavanshi, a resident of Malad, was addicted to whitener and became a thief to fuel his addiction. "He was locked inside his house by his grandfather on Saturday night as his family knew that he used to go out to steal things at the night, but he escapedthrough the roof," said the official.

Allegedly, according to the postmortem report, Suryavanshi's internal body parts were damaged because of excessive consumption of whitener. When he was beaten up by the residents, his body couldn't take it. "The residents knew about Suryavanshi and his activities. That's why, in order to teach him a lesson, they tied and beat him up," said the official.

According to Dilip Jadhav, a local resident, frequent thefts in the area over the last 10 years have left people frustrated. "I myself once nabbed a thief and handed him over to the police after he had stolen imitation jewellery from a shop in our area. I am a member of the mohalla committee and have raised concerns about the increase in thefts many times with the police," he said. Two years ago, a local businessman had been attacked in the same lane where Suryavanshi was apprehended and had been severely injured.

The burglars usually operate after midnight, latching the doors of the houses from outside before committing the thefts, said Rajan Dange, another resident. "Bicycles, water drums and other items placed in the verandahs of the residents are all targets for them," he said.


When the administration fails to do its duty, the public rise in revolt and administer its own form of justice.
Similar incidents like the above are quite common in Bengal where the police is under the direct thumb of the CPM and do not take any action unless the party instructs it. Thus when the water rises above the head, people take the law into their own hands and issue summary justice.
Pickpockets, train robbers receive this justice when caught.
Since politicians and the system is the same, I am seeing it occur in Mumbai.
We saw it in action after the Vedic village episode when the public chased a gang of criminals who had shot dead a spectator during a football game.They raided and destroyed the resort where the criminals went to seek shelter and where arms were found.
This opened a can of worms for the CPM and engulfed them in a fire which they are still trying to douse.
The French Revolution too was caused because the king was so far removed from the problems of his subjects that when told they did not have bread to eat, his queen asked them to eat cakes. This resulted in the invention of the GUILLOTINE with the same queen who advised cakes being one of the victims.
I don't know how many gulliotines would be required to clear the mess created by our corrupt politicians?
We have started seeing some of the guillotines in action in Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, MP, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh