MUMBAI: In extremely disturbing CCTV footage of a murder, a man is hacked to death with swords by a group of 11 men in broad daylight in Maharashtra’s Dhule, around 280 km from Mumbai. The men kept striking Rafiquddin, a local criminal, long after he had stopped moving. He was also shot in the head.
The video from a camera installed in the neighbourhood was leaked after it was taken by the police, and was widely circulated online.
Rafiquddin, 33, was having tea at a roadside stall in the heart of the city morning when the attackers barged in with swords and hockey sticks and set upon him. The police say he was struck 27 times with swords before the killers escaped in bikes and scooters.
When he collapsed, the attackers dragged him out of the shop and rainwater collected on the road rapidly turned crimson with his blood. In the video, one attacker keeps raining blows on his head, not stopping until he is pulled away by a gang-mate.
Another video shot immediately after the attack shows Rafiquddin’s mangled body lying in blood.
The police have not made any arrests so far. With the help of the eyewitnesses, including the tea stall owner and staff, they have filed a First Information Report and have identified some of the attackers, who allegedly belong to a rival gang of local goons.
Rafiquddin, say officers, was out on bail and had in his record more than 30 cases of extortion, rape and murder.
The horrific killing in full public view has left the town in shock.
