By IANS
Patna : A Dalit man was beaten to death and another seriously injured by landowners in a Bihar village over a land-related dispute, police said Thursday.
Bhagwat Ravidas, 60, a landless labourer, died after he was lynched by landowners and their henchmen in Bhadrar village in Banka district, about 200 km from here.
Bhagwat’s relative, Hari Ravidas, was also seriously injured in the incident. He was admitted to a hospital in a critical condition Wednesday.
Police said poverty-stricken and landless Dalits have been living on land owned by the government for decades.
“Landowners and their henchmen attacked the Dalits and destroyed their thatched huts Tuesday night in a bid to capture the land. Bhagwat and Ravi were beaten up when they tried to put up a protest,” a police official said.
A case has been lodged against 49 people in this connection but no one has been arrested yet.
Last week, 10 people belonging to the Nat community, were lynched in Vaishali district. A high-level probe has found the 10 men were not thieves as suspected earlier.
In another incident, two minor boys were beaten up and their heads tonsured partially when they were suspected of stealing detergent powder from a shop in Nawada district.