times news networkJodhpur: A 26-year-old state-level kabaddi player was allegedly abducted and beaten to death by a group of up to 25 men in Jodhpur district Friday. The deceased, identified as Manoj from Kaparda in the Bilara area of Jodhpur, was rushed to MDM Hospital in a critically injured condition before being declared dead.Enraged by the incident, family members and villagers staged a protest outside the MDM Hospital mortuary, demanding the immediate arrest of those involved .Manoj represented the state in several kabaddi competitions and was currently preparing for the Physical Training Instructor (PTI) recruitment examinations.According to sources with knowledge of the incident, Manoj had left for Pali Thursday evening with cash to buy a vehicle. He was travelling in an SUV along with two other men from his village.The SUV was intercepted by assailants travelling in four or five separate vehicles around 9pm under Shivpura police station limits in Pali district. The attackers allegedly forced Manoj out of the SUV and took him away in one of their vehicles.The two men accompanying him are reported to have fled the spot.Police said Manoj was then taken to a spot under Bilara police station area, where he was assaulted with sticks and iron rods and later abandoned near Lamba village.Villagers spotted the victim Friday morning and informed police.“Several suspects from Jodhpur district involved in the incident have been identified and will be arrested soon,” ASP (Jodhpur Rural) Bhopal Singh told TOI.Preliminary investigations have revealed that Manoj was involved in the prior assault of a few of the individuals believed to be behind his murder. An FIR related to that earlier incident is already registered at the Bilara police station, officials said.
