Shahjahanpur: A collision between a motorbike and a bicycle took an ugly turn at the Katra-Farukkhabad state highway here after an angry mob quickly gathered to beat one of the men, Nabi Ahmed, 55, to death. The other man on the bike, Azmat Ullah, is seriously injured and is in hospital for treatment.Sunil Kumar, after falling on the road from his bicycle, had raised an alarm following which a mob crystallized almost out of nowhere and started attacking the bikers with sticks. Sharik Ahmed, son of Nabi, told TOI, “The crowd brutally attacked my father and our relative as they both had long beards. It was easy to make out that they were from a different faith.” Police on Thursday, however, lodged an FIR for "causing death by negligence" and said they will add sections on murder after receiving the post-mortem report.According to the family of the deceased, Nabi and Azmat Ullah, residents of Gausnagar town under Jalalabad police station, were returning from a wedding in Katra on Wednesday evening. Kumar, who was carrying pipes on his bicycle, collided with the bike and all three fell down. The accident happened at a place called Attibara.“As Kumar is married to a girl from Attibara village, he is known to many there. When he cried for help, some of them soon gathered at the spot and started assaulting my father and Azmat. The mob clearly knew they were Muslims,” said Sharik, who is a farmer.Police were informed and the two men were first taken to the community health centre. They were later referred to Shahjahanpur district hospital but as the condition of Nabi deteriorated, he was referred to a private hospital in Bareilly. Nabi succumbed to his injuries at 1 am while Azmat is under treatment at a private hospital in Shahjahanpur. Kumar, who was also admitted in a private hospital, was treated for minor injuries and discharged the same evening.Additional superintendent of police Dinesh Chandra Tripathi told TOI, “It was a minor accident. The locals attacked the bike riders in a fit of rage. However, police arrived soon afterwards and tried to rescue both men. An FIR under sections 304A (causing death by negligence), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life), 338 (causing grievous hurt by endangering life) and 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way) of the IPC has been registered against Kumar and four unidentified persons. Sections related to murder will be included in the FIR once the post-mortem report confirms that Nabi died of injuries not caused by the accident. We are awaiting the report.”

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