A man, who was booked in the lynching case of an interstate Dalit laborer from Chhattisgarh in December last year, was found dead near his home at Attappalam near Walayar in Palakkad district of Kerala on Wednesday.
An official at Walayar police station, which registered a case of unnatural death, said the 54-year-old man was suspected to have died by suicide. His body was taken to Palakkad District Government Hospital for autopsy.
The deceased was among nine people arrested by police for their involvement in the lynching of Ram Narayan Baghel, a native of Chhattisgarh, by a mob on December 17, 2025.
Baghel was allegedly beaten to death by a mob on suspicion of theft four days after he arrived in Kerala in search of daily wage employment opportunities. That day, he lost his way and ended up in Attappalam. The mob gathered there, suspected him of theft, and assaulted him. He later died of his injuries at a local hospital.
The accused, who is suspected to have died by suicide, is out on bail in the case. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the state police, which is probing the case, has appealed his bail in the Supreme Court.
The migrant worker’s family had organized protests in Palakkad against the local court’s decision to grant bail to most of the accused. In February, the Supreme Court canceled the bail granted to eight of the nine defendants.
