The victim of the mob lynching in Mangaluru has been identified as 36-year-old Ashraf, a native of Pulpalli village in Sultan Bathery taluk, Wayanad district, Kerala. Ashraf was killed during a local cricket match and his assaulters had alleged that he raised a pro-Pakistan slogan. Mangaluru Police Commissioner Anupam Agrawal however said the motive behind the brutal attack is still under investigation.
Ashraf had been working as a manual labourer in Mangaluru for the past month. His body, found near Bhatra Kallurti Temple in Kudupu—around 10 km from the city centre—was handed over to his family, and his last rites are scheduled to be held in Kottakkal, Kerala, on April 30.
According to the victim’s brother, Abdul Jabbar, Ashraf had a mild mental disability and was not affiliated with any organisation. “They said his body was left at the spot where the assault happened for nearly two hours,” Abdul Jabbar told the media.
The incident occurred on April 28 near a local cricket match venue in Kudupu. Police say a scuffle broke out and escalated into a mob attack. Initially, police had registered a case of unnatural death under suspicious circumstances, but the case was reclassified as mob lynching after the autopsy confirmed Ashraf died from internal injuries caused by multiple strong blows, compounded by shock and the lack of immediate medical care.
Mangaluru Rural Police have arrested 20 men so far and suspect at least 25 were involved. The first to assault Ashraf is believed to be 26-year-old autorickshaw driver T Sachin, a resident of Kudupu. Among the others arrested are Devadas, Manjunath, Saideep, Nitesh Kumar, Dheekshith Kumar, Sandeep, Vivian Alvares, Sridatta, Rahul, Pradeep Kumar, Manish Shetty, Dhanush, Dheekshith, Kishore Kumar, Yathiraj, Sachin, Anil, Sushanth, and Adarsh.
The police have invoked multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including 103(2), 115(2), 189(2), 190, 191(1), 191(3), and 240, related to mob violence and culpable homicide. Commissioner Agrawal said multiple teams have been deployed to identify additional suspects, gather witness statements, and collect CCTV footage and mobile tower data to further the investigation.