A murder suspect was lynched on Monday morning in the presence of police officers in Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar district, said the police. In a video, which has been widely shared on social media, people can be seen using sticks to assault the man after he attempted to escape following the crime even as a few police personnel tried to stop the mob.

The incident occurred in Rampur Banger village under the Tarya Sujan police station’s jurisdiction. The man who was lynched had allegedly shot dead a school teacher, identified as Sudhir Kumar Singh, in his home. The man who was assaulted by the mob till he died has not been identified yet.

The police have said the man was from Gorakhpur and had travelled to the village on a two-wheeler. He reached Singh’s home and identified himself as a friend of the teacher’s brother. Singh’s family claimed that the man was served tea and waited for the teacher to appear before committing the crime, the police said. However, eyewitnesses told News18 that Singh was shot at least three times when he was asleep.

After the shooting, the man attempted to escape but reached the terrace of Singh’s home as he spotted that a crowd had gathered. The man waved the gun and reportedly fired to keep people at a distance.

Following this, the police reached the spot. Some locals claimed that the police was alerted immediately but reached more than an hour after the murder had occurred.

“The cops climbed the terrace and asked him to surrender,” Vinod Kumar Mishra, police chief of the district, said in a statement. “The man and our personnel exchanged fire after which the murder suspect man climbed down from the terrace and tried to lock himself inside a room. A crowd broke down the door and caught hold of him. Before our officers could reach the man from the terrace of the next building, the mob had already thrashed him badly. He died after being brought out into the street.”

Tension prevailed in the village after the murder and lynching. Kumar added that an investigation in the case was underway.