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Image Credit: CCTV screengrab/Twitter

Dubai: A 70-year-old cop was thrashed to death by three men in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh today. A 40-second CCTV footage of the incident was shared by shocked social media users in India.

The video showed retired policeman, Abdul Samad Khan, riding a bicycle when a man in a red shirt pulled him over and started beating him up. The attacker was later joined by two more men.


According to the news agency Asian News International, Khan who retired from the Uttar Pradesh police in 2006, was beaten up by his relatives over a land dispute.


Many Twitter users highlighted that none of those who passed by or witnessed the incident came to Khan’s aid. Many said being a silent onlooker, makes one a participant in any crime. 


Tweep @akash54101224 posted: “Can’t... accept this in India, where a 70-year-old man gets beaten to death and the people around him just watch it happening... a brutal beating... they can’t even call the police.”


@RifatJawaid added: “People remained mute spectators and these thugs kept beating this former cop. What does it say about us as a society?”


According to Indian newspaper Deccan Chronicle: “Video footage from the attack shows the retired sub-inspector lying motionless with one arm nearly mutilated. Khan later succumbed to his injuries at a hospital.”


The end of the video shows the old man helplessly sitting against a wall, critically wounded, as his attackers escaped. 
News reports say that ten people have been named in the First Information Report (FIR) filed at the local police station but no arrests have been made as of yet.

The main attacker is believed to be a man named Junaid, the police said. According to a report on news website NDTV: “...has a criminal record with at least ten cases against him at the local police station.”


Tweeps also said that mob lynchings and violence were fast becoming a norm in many parts of the country because of the impunity such criminals enjoyed.

Twitter user @DrYAshokBabu posted: “Cowardice and selfishness plaguing the general public of the country... Either they resort to mob lynching out of frustration or collective apathy.”


@dhruvi0807 added: “This is so shameful! It seems anyone can get away with anything! Lack of governance... in UP. @YogiAdityanath_ @PMOIndia”
And, in a sarcastic tweet, @AudaciousQuest posted: “Welcome to ‘New India’.”
Everyone is treated equally. Anyone can be lynched anywhere.”