Thane: A 23-year-old bus cleaner was allegedly beaten to death by a group of 15 bus drivers and cleaners who suspected him of stealing mobile phones, despite having no evidence against him. Two men accused of inflicting the fatal injuries were arrested from a Gorakhpur-bound train near Kasara on Friday evening while allegedly trying to flee the city.Thane, India - June -07 2026: Thane: Two accused were arrested by the Thane Crime Branch from a moving train near Kasara on Friday evening while allegedly attempting to flee the city to evade arrest for the murder of a man whom they suspected of stealing mobile phones. The deceased, identified as Deepak Jaiswar (23), a resident of Pokhran Road No. 2, had been cleaning private buses parked in the area for several years. The arrested accused have been identified as Ajay Giri (28) and Shiva Goswami (25). ,in Thane ,in Mumbai, India, on, Sunday, June -07, 2026. ( photo by Praful Gangurde / Hindustan Times ) (praful Gangurde)The victim, Deepak Jaiswar, a resident of Pokhran Road No. 2, had been cleaning private buses parked in the area for several years. The arrested accused have been identified as Ajay Giri, 28, and Shiva Goswami, 25.Pravin Mane, senior police inspector at Vartak Nagar Police Station said, “Initially, we detained all the 15 persons in the case including the main accused. However, during the investigation we couldn’t find any major role of the other 13 people, so we later released them.”Police said several mobile phones had recently gone missing from buses parked in Gandhi Nagar, leading drivers and cleaners to suspect Jaiswar. On Friday morning, around 5am, the accused confronted Jaiswar in Gandhi Nagar, where an argument escalated into a violent assault.Police said all 15 accused allegedly participated in manhandling and assaulting him, while Giri and Goswami are suspected to have inflicted the severe injuries to his head that ultimately led to his death.After the assault, Jaiswar returned home, but his condition worsened. He was admitted to a private hospital, where he died during treatment. A murder case was subsequently registered by the Vartak Nagar police.Using CCTV footage of the incident and questioning bus drivers and cleaners, police identified the 13 suspects.Salil Bhonsale, Senior Police Inspector of Crime Branch Unit 5, told HT, “Based on inputs from our sources, we learned that the main accused, along with 13 others, were trying to flee to their native place in Uttar Pradesh and had boarded a Gorakhpur-bound train from Panvel.”Acting on the tip-off, a Crime Branch team boarded the train at Kalyan in plain clothes and tracked down Giri and Goswami between Kalyan and Kasara, Bhonsale said. The accused were arrested at around 6.45pm and later handed over to the Vartak Nagar police for further investigation.