New Delhi, Aug 29 (IANS): The Delhi Police have arrested four people for allegedly beating a 25-year-old man to death on suspicion of mobile theft in west Delhi's Naraina area.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (west) Deepak Purohit said that the police control room received a call about the incident on Friday morning. When a police team from the Naraina police station reached the spot they found an injured man lying under a tree at the municipal park in Loha Mandi.

An eyewitness told the police that he saw his four neighbours assaulting the victim and taking him to the park early in the morning.

He told police that four men tied the victim to a tree and beat him up with sticks and iron rods.

"When he tried to intervene and requested them to release the injured person, they did not pay heed to his request and said the man and his associates had stolen a mobile phone from a truck. Since his associate ran away with the mobile phone, they said they would not spare him," the officer said.

The four men - identified as Mushtaq Ahmed, Siraj Ahmed, Anees and Ishtihar (all residents of Loha Mandi) - fled the crime scene after beating the man.

The victim was later identified as Rahul, alias Dhancha, a 25-year-old resident of Jawahar Camp in Kirti Nagar.

The police took him to a nearby hospital, where he was declared dead.

All four suspects were arrested. They claimed that Rahul and his associates had stolen Siraj's cellphone from his truck. While they caught hold of Rahul, his associates escaped with the stolen phone.

"We are verifying the allegations of the arrested men," said an official associated with the probe, requesting anonymity.