Two men beaten to death on suspicion of being child lifters in Assam, probe ordered

Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal has ordered an inquiry into the matter.

DISPUR: Two men were mercilessly thrashed to death by a violent mob in Assam's Karbi Anglong district on suspicion of being child lifters following which the state government ordered an inquiry into the matter.

Nilotpal Das (29), a sound engineer based in Mumbai, and his friend Abhijeet Nath (30), a businessman, had gone to the picnic spot Kangthilangso in Karbi Anglong last night to capture the sounds of nature, the police said.

On their way back, the two were intercepted by some villagers at Panjuri, pulled out of the car and thrashed on suspicion of being child lifters, the police said.

A video of the duo being mercilessly thrashed by some unidentified miscreants has also gone viral on the social media. In the viral video, the two men can be seen pleading for their lives and trying to explain to the livid crowd that they were Assamese but to no avail.

After being informed of the incident, the police reached the spot and immediately rushed the two youths to a nearby hospital. However, both died on the way.

The police have also launched a massive search operation to nab the culprits on the basis of the viral video.

However, no arrest has been made so far, said reports. The district administration authorities are, meanwhile, camping in the area and holding talks with the villagers.

Both Das and Nath's parents have been informed and they are on their way to Karbi Anglong from Guwahati where they reside.

The bodies will be handed over to them after conducting the post-mortem, the police said.

Meanwhile, the Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, Debabrata Saikia had strongly condemned the lynching incident and called it yet another instance of the state government's "utter failure" to maintain law and order.

Saikia also demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident. 

In view of the Opposition attack, the state's Chief Minister, Sarbananda Sonowal ordered an inquiry into the matter and directed the police to nab the culprits at the earliest.

''I have directed the DGP to look into the matter and have asked him to arrest the culprits at the earliest,'' CM Sonowal said.

(With Agency inputs)