Three minor Dalit boys were stripped and beaten up by a mob in Bassi tehsil in Chittorgarh district, Rajasthan, on Monday for allegedly stealing a motorcycle. Hindustan Times reported that six people were detained for the incident on Tuesday. Bassi police officials said the boys, who are 15-16 years old, have been detained at the police station since 3 pm on April 4. Chittorgarh Superintendent of Police Prasanna Khamesra denied this, and said the boys were not kept there overnight. The minors reportedly confessed to the theft at the police station.

According to local police, the boys had stolen a motorcycle from the neighbouring Singoli area four months back, and on Monday, had driven it to Baal, a village in Chittorgarh. A villager in Baal, whose motorcycle had recently also been stolen, saw the boys speeding away on the bike and contacted people from the neighbouring Laxmipura, who then allegedly caught the boys.

The Times of India reported that the crowd stripped them, tied them to a tree, thrashed them, and finally paraded them naked for an hour in the village. The police had to intervene and take the boys to the hospital as they were badly injured.

Head Constable Nand Lal told Scroll.in that the Laxmipur villagers called the police and said, "Kanjaron [Dalits] ko pakad rakha hai." However, Khamesra denied that this was an incident of caste violence. "The boys are from the Kanjar community, who are Dalits, but this is not a case of Dalit atrocity," he said. "These boys had created a reign of terror of theft. Each of the three boys has been challaned before and we are also investigating the case against the villagers who beat them up." He said Dalits and men from the Meena tribe were part of the mob that thrashed the boys.

When the police contacted the the bike's owner in Singoli, he claimed he didn't come forward as he did not have the required insurance documents.