A 27-year-old man was allegedly beaten to death by an irate mob in suburban Ranchi early on Sunday for apparently stealing tyres and a battery from a motorcycle, the second incident of mob lynching reported in the state capital this month.

The deceased, identified as Mubarak Khan, was thrashed by a mob in Sirka village while he was allegedly fleeing the spot after stealing tyres and a battery of a pulsar bike, police said. However, Mubarak’s family has claimed he was murdered over personal enmity by some residents of the village, who had allegedly invited him to meet them in the wee hours of Sunday.

“Prima facie, it seems that Mubarak, a resident of nearby Maheshpur village, was caught in the act of stealing tyres and a battery of a bike. The villagers caught hold of him and thrashed him brutally,” said OC of Angada police station Brajesh Kumar. “The man died on the spot,” he added.

Mubarak’s body was sent for post-mortem on Sunday.

An elder brother of his lodged an FIR with the Angada police against 18 people for tying Mubarak to a poll and beating him to death as a part of a conspiracy. Mubarak worked as a driver of a van used for supplying bread.

Ranchi SP (rural) Naushad Alam, who visited the crime scene on Sunday, said police were investigating the matter and taking statements from villagers. The police have lodged an FIR against 17 identified persons and several others in connection with the incident, he added.

“We are investigating the case from different perspectives. The post-mortem report will give us a clearer picture of the cause of death,” said Alam.

In a similar incident reported on March 8, a mob of around 40 people had brutally beaten up one Sachin Kumar Verma at Kotwali police station area in urban Ranchi over suspicion of vehicle theft. Twenty-two-year-old Sachin succumbed to his injuries on his way to the hospital. The incident rocked the state Assembly with the Opposition targeting the Hemant Soren-led government over alleged lawlessness in the state.

Cases of mob lynching by cow vigilantes and superstitious residents of far-flung villages of Jharkhand had kept even the former BJP-led government on toes. The state reported 39 cases of mob-lynching by 2019 and police had then set up special teams to investigate such crimes. Several cases of lynching over theft of mobile phones and spare parts of vehicles have been reported in the state in the past.