Ranchi, January 6: In a horrific incident reported from Jharkhand, a man was brutally thrashed by the villagers under Kolebira Police Station in Simdega and later burnt alive in broad daylight in presence of police, allegedly for chopping trees illegally and selling them in the market, which is a violation of ‘Khuntkatti’ law.  Bihar Shocker: Man Sets Wife, 3-Year-Old Minor Son on Fire for Dowry in Supaul District

Villagers claim that the man was alerted at least twice during Gram Sabha meetings to stop cutting trees illegally. As he did not listen in spite of getting warned, they thought of teaching him a lesson, the villager said. The deceased victim has been identified as Sanju Pradhan, according to a report in The New Indian Express.

‘Khuntkatti’ system is joint ownership or holding of land by tribal lineage. The Munda tribals would usually clear the forests and make the land fit for cultivation, which would then be owned by the whole clan and not a particular individual.

Though the police reached the spot after getting the information about Pradhan's execution, they remained mute spectators looking at the huge crowd. Later, additional forces were roped in but only after the crowd dispersed that the charred body of the victim was recovered by the police.

Simdega SP Shams Tabrez said that the deceased victim had chopped ‘Khuntkatti’ trees in the region following which “the villagers had lodged a complaint with the forest department.”

“However, no action was taken against him. On Tuesday, the villagers held a meeting, following which Pradhan was nabbed and thrashed brutally and torched,” the report quoted the SP as saying.

The SP said the half-burnt body was recovered from the place of occurrence and sent for post mortem. Action will be taken after lodging the FIR, he added.   Hyderabad Shocker: 52-Year-Old Man Burns Former Live-In Partner Alive, Sets Himself on Fire

According to the report, thousands of people from all the nine ‘tolas’ of the Bambalkea region had gathered at the spot when the execution took place in front of his mother and wife for violating the ‘Khuntkatti’ law.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 06, 2022 04:12 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).