Calcutta, Feb. 23: An eight-year-old boy was tied up and beaten on a railway platform in Barasat this afternoon after hawkers and shop-owners accused him of stealing.

But the plastic packet that Sunil Haoladar had allegedly pinched was not found on him. The assault left the boy senseless and he lay on the platform for over half an hour.

Some commuters then informed the Government Railway Police (GRP), who took Sunil to hospital. He was discharged a few hours later.

“It appears the attackers had slapped him repeatedly and pulled his hair,” said a GRP officer.

The police said Sunil was from Orissa and lived on the platform.

He was loitering around a bookstore on the platform around 6pm. “Suddenly, a hawker shouted that he had stolen a plastic packet. In no time, a horde of vendors had gathered there and began frisking Sunil. But no plastic packet was found,” said Uttam Chakrabarty, who was waiting at the platform for a Sealdah-bound train.

“A group of people then started beating up the boy. They first tied his hands and legs and then slapped him. When the boy fainted, the attackers stopped.”

The vendors left the spot before the GRP officers arrived. “We took him straight to hospital. Doctors said there were no significant injuries. The boy was traumatised and had, therefore, fallen unconscious,” said an officer.