Mob-lynching accused on bail found hanging

Palakkad: An accused in the mob lynching case at Attappallam in Walayar was found hanging near his house on Wednesday.Vinod Kumar (54), of East Attappallam, who was released on bail, was found hanging in a plot near his house. Kumar was the sixth accused in the lynching case in which Ram Narayan Baghel, a Jharkhand native, was beaten to death by a mob on Dec 17 last year.Mannarkkad special court had earlier granted bail to Kumar. There are nine accused in the case. The investigation team had approached the high court seeking cancellation of his bail. His death came before the plea could be considered. About a month ago, high court had cancelled the bail of the other eight accused following the investigation team's petition. They are currently in judicial custody.Baghel had come to Palakkad for work at Kinfra in Kanjikode. On the day of the incident, he is believed to have lost his way and reached Attappallam area. Seeing an unfamiliar person, locals allegedly suspected him to be a thief and began questioning him. Police later said he didn't have any stolen items on him. Despite this, the mob kept questioning and assaulting him.During the assault, one of the assailants was heard asking whether he was from Bangladesh. Though Baghel reportedly tried to explain that he had come from his sister's house, the attackers didn't relent. The attackers also captured the incident on video. Baghel was left bleeding on the road for nearly one and a half hours before police arrived and shifted him to hospital. However, he died soon after. The killing has drawn comparisons to the 2018 Madhu lynching case at Agali in the district.