Attapallam mob lynching: Accused out on bail found hanging

WALAYAR: An accused in the Attapallam mob lynching case has been found hanging while out on bail. Vinod Kumar (54), a native of Kizhakke Attapallam, was found hanging in the compound near his house. He was the sixth accused in the case. The body has been shifted to the district hospital. The Mannarkkad Special Court had granted him bail in connection with the case. The investigation team had filed a plea in the High Court seeking the cancellation of the bail. Vinod's death comes at a time when the court was about to consider this plea. About a month ago, the High Court had cancelled the bail of eight other accused in the case, and they are currently in remand. There are a total of nine accused in the case.

The incident dates back to December 17, when Ramnarayan Baghel, a native of Jharkhand, was lynched by a mob. He had come to Palakkad for work at KINFRA in Kanjikode. On the day of the incident, he reportedly lost his way and reached the Attapallam area. Locals, suspecting him to be a thief, began questioning him. However, no stolen items were found in his possession. Despite this, the questioning turned into mob violence.

He was brutally beaten, including being hit on the head. Ramnarayan was left bleeding on the road for nearly one and a half hours before the police arrived and took him to the hospital. However, he succumbed to his injuries soon after due to the severity of the assault. Police stated that around 20 people were present at the scene during the attack. Ramnarayan is survived by two young children aged eight and ten. Officials noted that the brutality of this incident was even more severe than the Madhu case in 2018. The doctor who conducted the post-mortem stated that despite examining thousands of bodies, this was one of the most severely injured cases he had ever seen.