Lucknow: A sanitation worker was tortured and battered to death in Kanpur, allegedly by the son of a guesthouse owner and three of his aides, over suspicion of theft.
The incident took place on September 6, but came to light on Sunday, when the victim, Bittu Balmiki, died during treatment in hospital.
All four accused — Tejas Chauhan, Shiv Sharma, Manoj Chauhan and Om Prakash Shukla — have been arrested and booked for murder, DCP Vijay Dhull said.
Police said Bittu was an employee at the Pratistha Guest House at Kakadeo, owned by Veerpal Singh Chauhan, but had recently left the job because of low salary.
Tejas, however, suspected that he had quit after committing a theft on the premises. He and his aides held him captive and brutally tortured him.
“Tejas and his friends beat up Bittu with a baseball bat and plucked his toe nails. Not satisfied with this, they got him bitten by a dog. When Bittu was knocked unconscious, they threw him near his house and fled,” a family member of the deceased said.
Police checked the CCTVs installed at the guesthouse, but the entire data was found deleted.
“We have seized the digital video recorder, which will be sent for forensic examination,” a police officer said.
