The three men who had been arrested for lynching their neighbour in Polenite, Manish Bathan, have reportedly told police that they had started hitting Prasenjit Mondal as they thought that he had stolen a smartphone that had gone missing from their house and wanted to make him confess, police said.

An officer of Bidhannagar Commissionerate said that Tapan Sarkar, his son Harshit and Sridam Mondal had told officers during questioning that they had wanted Mondal to tell them that he had stolen the cellphone and give them back the handset.

“They had initially called Mondal, who is their next door neighbour, outside his house on Saturday night. They had first started questioning him but soon came to blows as Mondal denied any involvement in the theft,” said the officer.

The men have told the cops that they continued to hit Mondal with the hope he would admit to his “crime” and return their smartphone.

“The three kept hitting Mondal as they had thought he had stolen the smartphone. Mondal kept telling them that he had not stolen the phone but the men did not listen,” the officer added.

The police also spoke to neighbours.