Two people, suspected to be child-lifters, lynched in Tripura

The deceased were attacked by an irate mob on suspicion of being child-lifters in two separate incidents in Tripura.

Agartala: At least two people have were lynched to death by an angry mob in two separate incidents in Tripura on Thursday. The victims were attacked by an irate mob over suspicion of being child lifters, said authorities. 

The first incident was reported from Murabari area under Sidhai police station of West Tripura district and the second from Kalacherra under South Tripura district. As many as five persons, including a police constable, also sustained injuries.

Earlier, on Thursday morning, three retail garment sellers from Uttar Pradesh were attacked by an irate mob 

The three garment sellers were attacked on suspicion of being child-traffickers by a violent mob during which  which one of them was killed on the spot.

Three others, including their driver who had rushed to a nearby TSR camp, were also severely beaten up by the mob.

The deceased garment seller has been identified as Jahir Khan (35) of Uttar Pradesh and three injured persons have been identified as Khurshid Khureshi (23), Guljar Ahmed Khar, both are from Uttar Pradesh, and driver Swapan Miah of Bhati Abhoy Nagar area of Agartala. 

Three injured persons were later shifted at GB Hospital where they are said to be in a critical condition. According to hospital sources, of the three, Guljar Ahmed Khan is stated to be critical.

One police constable Sumit Sanyal, posted at Sidhai Police Station, also sustained injuries after being chased by the mob. He was also rushed to the GB Hospital for treatment from where wasdischarged later.

In another incident, one person was reportedly lynched by a violent mob, this time in Kalachera under Subroom sub-division in the extreme south bordering Bangladesh.

The fresh incident took place on Thursday afternoon when two persons, who were alerting the people about rumour mongering on behalf of district administration through loudspeakers, were suddenly attacked by a violent mob.

The announcer, Sukanta Chakraborty of Manikghar under Sabroom police station, was killed on the spot, while the driver of the vehicle was severely beaten up.

This incident is the second one of the kind on the same day.

The police immediately rushed to the spot and had to resort to a mild lathi-charge to disperse the mob.

Police sources said that the air in entire Mohanpur, Sabroom and other parts of the state were now thick with a baseless rumour that a gang of child-traffickers had entered the state to lift small children for sale outside .

Meanwhile, all mobile and Internet service providers have been asked to suspend the services for 48 hours from Thursday afternoon to prevent the spread of rumours.

In the face of severe rumour mongering, the state police ordered immediate suspension of SMS and internet services. Director General of Police Akhil Kumar Shukla on Thursday issued a notification stating SMS messages of all mobile service providers and data service of all service providers would be suspended for next 48 hours to stop rumour mongering.

"It has been seen noticed that SMS, WhatsApp and social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are being widely used for transmission of fake images and videos as well as text messages which have potential to provoke violence in the state at a larger rate", the DGP said in the notification. 

The state police have also appealed the people to remain calm and not to get involved in any kind of rumour based mob violence.

(With Agency inputs)