Two brothers lynched over alleged goat theft bid in Sivaganga district

SIVAGANGA: Two brothers were lynched by a mob over their suspected attempt to steal goats from a farm in Sivaganga district around midnight on Monday. Police said the deceased, S Manikandan, 31, and S Sivasankaran, 24, of Kattanipatti, had previous theft cases against them.The incident happened in a farm owned by Subbu of Alagamanagiri, under Madagupatti police station limits. Around midnight, the two brothers were allegedly trying to make off with goats and chickens from the farm. Some people who came there to check on a jallikattu bull spotted the activity and informed others. Subsequently, a mob gathered and caught hold of Manikandan and Vigneswaran as they tried to escape. The villagers then beat them up with sticks, punched and kicked them.Sivaganga superintendent of police Ashish Rawat said police immediately reached the spot and found the two brothers with severe injuries. “The two were rushed in a 108 ambulance to Sivaganga Government Medical College Hospital. But, they died without responding to treatment,” Rawat said.The Madagupatti police registered a case. The bodies of the deceased were sent for postmortem. As of Tuesday evening, police arrested S Thirupathi, 45, A Somaraj, 31, R Prabhu, 30, V Deepak, 19, S Vignesh, 31, and R Dinesh, 31. Investigation was on to trace others involved in the lynching.