Mumbai: Six persons allegedly lynched a homeless man in Kalyan on Tuesday after they suspected him to be a thief. The mob allegedly thrashed the victim and later tied him up with a rope. The police later arrested the accused after a video clip of the brutal attack went viral.

The deceased was identified as Jongol Budhwa Lohara (48), who would stay on the streets of Kalyan. He was lynched by Popat Mama, who has been identified as main accused for having instigated other accused into thrashing him. The other attackers were identified as Mangesh Hamal alias Mangal, Raju Jhiprya alias Noor Alam, Sandesh Jadhav, Anis Shaikh and Navnath Rathod.

The officials said that the incident took place between 2.30 am and 4 am on Tuesday near a pay and park stretch on Station Road at Kalyan. Popat spotted Jongol who was seen regularly near the Murbadkar Estate Guest House. After he found Jongol to be suspicious, Popat confronted him and picked fight with him stating he was a thief.

“After sometime Popat raised an alarm and the remaining accused persons assembled there. The group then used bamboos and other objects to assault him and left him grievously injured,” said an officer of Thane police station. The officer added, “The accused then tied his hands and legs in bid to pin him down.”

The officials said that Jongol was then dragged and brought near the junction outside station. The mob also tried to disfigure his face beyond recognition and destroyed evidence, according to police officials.

The police tracked down the accused persons with the help of the video from different parts of the city. The officials have filed a case of murder, grievous hurt and acts of common intention as per the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The accused have been remanded to police custody for further investigation in the case.