Agartala: Three men were allegedly lynched by mobs in two separate places in Khowai district of Tripura, about 46 km from Agartala, early on Sunday.
Talking to The Wire, sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) of Teliamura, Sonacharan Jamatia said, “The local people of Namanjoypara spotted a small vehicle carrying five cattle moving towards Agartala. The locals chased the vehicle and managed to stop it near North Maharanipur village under Kalyanpur RD Block. They detained the people inside and thrashed them. Other villagers also joined and lynched the suspected cattle lifters.”
The police officials said one of the three managed to escape, but later villagers at Mungiakami caught him and beat him.
“Police learned that the trio stole cattle from an area under the Khowai district. On receipt of the information, police reached in both the places and immediately shifted them to a local hospital and from there again shifted to the Agartala Government Medical College and GB Pant hospital, where the attending doctors declared the trio brought dead,” the SDPO said.
The SDPO said that they have registered two cases regarding the incident. Nobody has been arrested yet.
“A case against unknown miscreants for mob lynching has been registered with Kalyanpur police station while another case was registered with Champahour police station for stealing the cattle,” the police official told The Wire.
The deceased were identified as Jayed Hossain (30), Billal Miah (28) and Saiful Islam (18), all residents of Sonamura subdivision which is a bordering village under Sepahijala district around 50 km away from here.
The mother of Jayed Hossain told reporters at GB Pant Hospital that her son has left home yesterday with Billal Miah, but she didn’t know where they were going or why.
Reacting to the issue, BJP spokesperson Subrata Chakraborty said, “It is indeed sad news. People should not take the law in their hand. We don’t support it and a proper investigation should carry out on the matter.”
Shyamal Chakraborty, the CPI(M) MLA from Sonamura, said, “The law is there, police is there. If they came for stealing the cattle, people should hand them over to the police. This is totally inhumane and against the law.”
Vice-president of the Tripura Pradesh Congress Tapas Dey said, “Such incidents highlight the current law and order situation of the state. If they are suspected cattle lifters, then they should have been handed over to the police. I demand that the government and police carry out a fair investigation of the matter in a proper way and also demand compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the family members of the deceased.”
Earlier, on December 2019, a 29-year old man suspected of stealing cows in Sepahijala district of the state died after he was allegedly thrashed by an irate mob.