In a shocking incident, a 20-year old Dalit youth was allegedly beaten to death for plucking a guava in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh district, about 400 kilometres from here.
Two persons have been arrested in this connection, police sources said on Sunday.
Police said that the youth, identified as Om Prakash, a resident of Manena village in the district, was caught allegedly plucking a guava from an orchard near the village on Saturday by two men, who were tasked with protecting the orchard.
Om Prakash was repeatedly hit with sticks and lathis by the assailants and was later dumped in a nearby field after he lost consciousness. The family members of the victim launched a search for him after he did not return home. After several hours of searching, they found him lying in a pool of blood in the field and took him to the hospital where he was declared dead by the doctors.
However, Satya Prakash, the brother of Om Prakash, claimed that the latter had only picked up a guava which had fallen on the ground and had not plucked the fruit from the tree.
Police said that two persons, identified as Banwarilal and Bhimsen, both residents of the same village, were arrested in this connection. ''A search has been launched to nab two other persons who were also with the assailants,'' a senior police official said in Aligarh.
Sources said that tension had gripped the village in the aftermath of the incident and security personnel had been deployed in strength to maintain law and order.