VARANASI, March 31 -- A 17-year-old boy was allegedly beaten to death by six people near Kannadari village in Varanasi on Saturday night over suspicion of stealing a mobile phone, police said. Sonu Ali, a mechanic from Punditpur village in Rohania area, was the sole earner for his family. According to his mother Sahana's written police complaint, Ramesh Patel alias Bablu, Rohit Patel, Ravi, Govinda and Guddu forcibly took her son from their house around 8 pm on Saturday, alleging he had stolen a phone. Though Sahana pleaded with them not to take her son, they forcibly dragged him away, claiming they would take him to police outpost. Instead, they beat him near Kannadari village. When condition deteriorated, they took him to police outpost, from where police rushed him to government hospital. Doctors referred him to a private medical college in Bhadwari, where he was declared dead. Police registered a case under various sections of BNS against five named and one unidentified person at Rohania police station. "Ramesh Patel, 29, the main accused was arrested from near Ghamahapur crossing on Sunday night," said inspector Raju Singh, SHO at Rohania. Sonu's uncle Akhtar alleged that Patel was formerly involved in cattle smuggling and had served jail time. Patel suspected Sonu had tipped off authorities, leading to his arrest, and harboured a grudge against him. "The mobile phone theft was merely a pretext," Akhtar said. Sonu's body was handed to his family after postmortem examination and buried at Ramsipur cemetery. Police said, "Two teams have been constituted to ensure the arrest of the remaining named accused." htc...