News Analysis India

Tag: Mob Lynching

  • 35-year-old tribal man beaten to death near Jharkhand capital, six arrested

    By Express News Service

    RANCHI: In yet another incident of mob lynching in Jharkhand, a tribal man was beaten to death by villagers at Horedag on the outskirts of Ranchi, allegedly after being caught attempting theft in a house early in the morning on Thursday. According to police, six people have been arrested so far. The raids are still on to arrest others after lodging an FIR at Ormanjhi Police Station in this regard.

    According to eyewitnesses, the owner of the house woke up from sleep and raised an alarm after he saw the burglar in his house; the villagers assembled there and caught him after chasing him for some distance. They tied him with a rope and thrashed him badly till he lost consciousness.

    Police reached there after a few hours and took him to the nearby hospital where he succumbed to his injuries during treatment.

    “We got information that a 35-year old man, Mithun Kherwar, was detained allegedly while he was making a theft attempt in a house and was being thrashed by them.  A team was rushed to the spot, which rescued the victim and admitted him to the nearby hospital where he died during treatment,” said SP Rural Naushad Alam.

    According to the SP, a special investigation team (SIT) headed by Silli DSP, has been constituted to look into the matter. “So far six people have been arrested and sent to jail. Investigations are on and anybody involved in the crime will not be spared at any cost”, he said.

    Local police informed that an FIR against 6 named and 35 unknown persons, under relevant sections of thrashing and killing, has been lodged. The process of identification of others involved in the case is also on.

    According to Mukhiya Rameshchandra Oroan, Mithun was in the habit of stealing things and used to return them after taking some amount from them. He was also caught red-handed at a nearby village in Pithoria and was beaten by the villagers in the recent past.

    “The matter never reached to police as it was settled in the village itself through talks. Mithun was also warned several times asking him to shun this habit, but he was not ready to mend his ways,” said a local requesting anonymity. Since this was being repeated, villagers tried to teach him a lesson and thrashed him badly, but unfortunately, he died, said the local. On Thursday also, he barged into two houses with the intention of theft but did not succeed.

    RANCHI: In yet another incident of mob lynching in Jharkhand, a tribal man was beaten to death by villagers at Horedag on the outskirts of Ranchi, allegedly after being caught attempting theft in a house early in the morning on Thursday. According to police, six people have been arrested so far. The raids are still on to arrest others after lodging an FIR at Ormanjhi Police Station in this regard.

    According to eyewitnesses, the owner of the house woke up from sleep and raised an alarm after he saw the burglar in his house; the villagers assembled there and caught him after chasing him for some distance. They tied him with a rope and thrashed him badly till he lost consciousness.

    Police reached there after a few hours and took him to the nearby hospital where he succumbed to his injuries during treatment.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    “We got information that a 35-year old man, Mithun Kherwar, was detained allegedly while he was making a theft attempt in a house and was being thrashed by them.  A team was rushed to the spot, which rescued the victim and admitted him to the nearby hospital where he died during treatment,” said SP Rural Naushad Alam.

    According to the SP, a special investigation team (SIT) headed by Silli DSP, has been constituted to look into the matter. “So far six people have been arrested and sent to jail. Investigations are on and anybody involved in the crime will not be spared at any cost”, he said.

    Local police informed that an FIR against 6 named and 35 unknown persons, under relevant sections of thrashing and killing, has been lodged. The process of identification of others involved in the case is also on.

    According to Mukhiya Rameshchandra Oroan, Mithun was in the habit of stealing things and used to return them after taking some amount from them. He was also caught red-handed at a nearby village in Pithoria and was beaten by the villagers in the recent past.

    “The matter never reached to police as it was settled in the village itself through talks. Mithun was also warned several times asking him to shun this habit, but he was not ready to mend his ways,” said a local requesting anonymity. Since this was being repeated, villagers tried to teach him a lesson and thrashed him badly, but unfortunately, he died, said the local. On Thursday also, he barged into two houses with the intention of theft but did not succeed.

  • Youths accused of raping minor girl lynched, set on fire in Jharkhand’s Gumla

    Express News Service

    RANCHI: In yet another incident of mob lynching in Jharkhand, two tribal youths were burnt alive by the villagers in Jharkhand’s Gumla, allegedly for raping a minor girl from the village. Both were rushed to the hospital but one of them succumbed to his injuries during treatment, while the other one is still struggling for life.

    The youth, who lost his life, has been identified as Sunil Oraon, while the other one as Ashish Oroan, both supposed to be close friends of each other. The incident took place at Amba Toli village under Basua Panchayat, about 18 km from district headquarters in Gumla late in the evening on Wednesday.

    According to the police, the girl had gone to a relative’s place in Lohardaga to attend a function along with her mother and aunt. While returning home on Wednesday, they were standing at the bus stand, during which, two youths of her village reached there on a bike and asked why they were standing there.

    “After a brief conservation, they offered the girl to drop her home as the bus was getting late. But, instead of dropping her home, they took her to the nearby jungle and raped her one by one,” said Gumla Sub-divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Manish Chandra Lal. After the incident, they dumped the girl near her home, he added.

    After reaching home, according to SDPO, she told her father and brother about the incident. Enraged over the incident, the girl’s family members and a few other villagers started looking for them and found them at Ashish’s house. After a brief altercation, they convinced both Sunil and Ashish to come with them saying that a Panchayat has been called to settle the matter.

    “Once they reached Amba Toli, the motorbike was set ablaze by sprinkling petrol on it and the two youths were beaten up by punches and bamboo sticks. After thrashing them badly, the two youths were also put on fire after sparkling kerosene oil on them following which, they ran towards their respective home and took shelter over there,” said the SDPO.

    Later, police were informed and they were rushed to Sadar Hospital in Gumla from where they were referred to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi, he added. “Sunil Oraon succumbed to his injuries during treatment, early in the morning on Thursday, while Ashish Oraon is still struggling for life,” said the SDPO.

    An FIR has been lodged in the incident against 5 named and 10-12 unknown persons, he added. One FIR has also been lodged from the girl’s side against the two persons – Ashish Oroan and Sunil Oroan.

    SDPO said the girl has filed a complaint with Sadar police station alleging rape and has been put under medical supervision. Meanwhile, the family members calling it lynching, have demanded action and compensation accordingly.

  • ‘Lynching’ of two Gond men in MP: NHRC seeks action taken report

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The National Human Rights Commission has sought action taken report from Seoni district authorities in Madhya Pradesh in connection with the “lynching” of two tribal men by a group of people over suspicion of cow slaughter, according to proceedings of the case.

    The two men had died around 6 am on Tuesday during treatment at a hospital, according to a complaint by Brajesh Batti, who was injured in the incident.

    The NHRC on Friday took action in the case after a complaint by a human rights activist.

    “Instant complaint is from well-known human rights defender Radhakanta Tripathy wherein he has highlighted a serious issue of lynching of two Gond men, Dhansa Invati (50 years) and Sampat Lalby (45 years) by a mob of 20 people over allegation of cow slaughter in tribal-dominated Seoni district of Madhya Pradesh early May 2,” as per the proceedings of the case accessed from NHRC’s official website.

    Tripathy has alleged that one tribal youth who tried to save the duo, too, was attacked by the assailants.

    Not only that, even the wife of one of the deceased men, when she tried to save her husband, was assaulted and molested by attackers, it said.

    It is averred by the complainant that the “failure, negligence and inaction of the state” in acting over the issue pose serious human rights threats and violates the basic human rights of the deceased families.

    Hence, seeking intervention of the Commission in the matter, according to proceedings of the case.

    “The Commission directs its Registry to transmit the copy of complaint to the concerned authority calling for an action taken report within four weeks,” it added.

    In the column for the authority concerned from whom the report has been sought, it mentions, “District Magistrate”.

    “The concerned authorities shall also intimate the Commission, if any, notice, order etc., has been received by him/them in the instant matter from the State Human Rights Commission. If yes, a copy of such order be also sent to the Commission within four weeks. Let a copy of the complaint be also transmitted to the secretary of the concerned State Human Rights Commission, calling upon him to inform this Commission the date of cognisance, if any, taken at their end in the instant matter within four weeks,” according to the proceedings of the case.

    An official on Wednesday had said police have arrested nine persons in connection with the death of two tribal men who were allegedly assaulted by a group of people over suspicion of cow slaughter in Seoni district.

    The two tribal men died on Tuesday morning after some people, allegedly belonging to the Bajrang Dal, beat them up over suspicion of cow slaughter in Simaria village under Kurai police station limits.

  • Suspected goat lifter lynched in Assam, two held

    By PTI

    GOLAGHAT: A 45-year-old man was lynched by three persons in a remote village of Golaghat district on the suspicion that he had stolen a goat, a police officer said on Sunday.

    Two persons have been detained in connection with the incident, which took place at Mamarani village in Dergaon police station area on Saturday night, reportedly in the presence of locals.

    Prodip Choudhury, the officer in-charge (OC) of Dergaon Police Station, said no complaint was registered in the first 12 hours of the attack.

    “The family members the victim, identified as Sanjay Das, visited the police station only a while ago. They have filed a complaint. We have just registered a case,” Choudhury told PTI.

    According to the police, Das was attacked by three persons, who resided in the same village as him.

    He was first taken to Dergaon Civil Hospital following the attack, but doctors there referred him to Jorhat Medical College and Hospital (JMCH).

    The 45-year-old, however, succumbed to his injuries early on Sunday.

    Two accused, who have been picked up by the police, are being interrogated to find out more details about the case.

    “As per our information, a goat that belonged to one of the culprits went missing and Das was suspected to have stolen it. The goat owner along with his friends thrashed the victim, leading to his death,” Chowdhury explained.

    During the recently concluded Winter Session of Assam Assembly, the government had said it would discuss and consider a proposal to introduce a bill against mob lynching, in line with few other states.

    On November 29, AASU leader Animesh Bhuyan was lynched by a mob following a heated argument over an accident in Jorhat city.

  • Tabrez Ansari effect? Anti-lynching bill likely in upcoming Jharkhand Assembly session

    By PTI

    RANCHI: To deter incidents of mob assaults and lynching, which has been rising in the tribal state, the Jharkhand Assembly is likely to introduce an anti-lynching bill in its upcoming session, that proposes capital punishment for those lynching individuals, besides provisions for imprisonment for injuring a person, and stiff penalties for participating in a lynch mob.

    The Jharkhand (Prevention of Lynching) Bill, 2021 is likely to come up in the ensuing session of Jharkhand Assembly from December 16 to 22, an official told PTI.

    Assemblies in states like West Bengal and Rajasthan have already passed anti-lynching legislation.

    Jharkhand has been in the news for cases of mob lynching and the incident where one Tabrez Ansari, 24, was allegedly tied to a pole and thrashed with sticks by a mob at Dhatkidih village in Seraikela Kharsawan district in 2019 on suspicion of theft had its echo in Parliament too.

    To protect the constitutional rights of vulnerable persons and to prevent lynching and to punish the acts of lynching in the state, the proposed bill provides for punishment “with death sentence or rigorous imprisonment for life and with fine which shall not be less than ten lakh rupees” in case of death of the victim, the official said.

    In case of the act leading to the victim suffering hurt, there are provisions for punishment with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and with fine which shall not be less than Rs one lakh which may extend up to Rs three lakh.

    “Where the act leads to the victim suffering grievous hurt, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and with fine which shall not be less than three lakh rupees and may extend up to five lakh rupees,” the provisions of the proposed bill , a draft of which is with PTI, states.

    The proposed bill provides for appointment of a state co-ordinator not below the rank of the Inspector General of Police to be called the Nodal Officer to monitor and co-ordinate prevention of lynching.

    The nodal officer will be appointed by the Director General of Police.

    The Nodal Officer, on enactment of legislation will be required to hold regular meetings, at least once a month, with local intelligence units in the Districts, so as to identify tendencies of vigilantism, mob violence or lynching in an area and take steps to prevent dissemination of offensive material through different social media platforms or any other means which could incite mob vigilantes.

    The proposed bill states that every police officer, directly in charge of maintaining law and order in an area, shall take all reasonable steps to prevent any act of lynching including incitement and commission and will make all possible efforts to identify and prevent instances of dissemination of offensive material or any other means to incite or promote lynching.

    Likewise, district magistrates are required to take every possible action to the best of his ability to prevent the creation of a hostile environment against a person or group of persons which are targeted in such incidents.

    The proposed bill also provides that any person despite knowing that any other person is guilty of an offence under this Act assists him with intent to prevent, hinder or interfere with his arrest, trial or punishment “shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine which shall not be less than one lakh rupees and may extend up to three lakh rupees.”

    Likewise any person who threatens a witness under this Act shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of upto five years and shall also be liable to fine between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 5 lakh.

    Lynching under the proposed bill has been defined as “any act or series of acts of violence or aiding, abetting or attempting an act of violence, whether spontaneous or planned, by a mob onthe grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth, language, dietary practices, sexual orientation, political affiliation, ethnicity or any other ground.”

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2019 had said in Parliament that the incident of lynching in Jharkhand has pained him and the guilty must be severely punished and had stressed that all kinds of violence in the country, should be treated in the same manner and law should take its course.

    Ansari was purportedly seen in a video being forced to chant “Jai Shri Ram” and “Jai Hanuman” and had later succumbed to his injuries.

  • Three suspected cattle lifters lynched by mob in Tripura

    By Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: Three persons were lynched by a mob in Tripura on the suspicion that they were cattle lifters.

    The incident occurred in Khowai district on Sunday. The mob had tied two of the three persons before beating them to death.

    The victims, Billal Mia (30), Joyed Hussain (28) and Saiful Islam (18), were allegedly ferrying cattle in a mini-truck when the vehicle was intercepted by the villagers.

    Soon, the assault followed but Saiful managed to escape until he was caught by another group of villagers at a nearby place and thrashed. All of them were rushed to a hospital but the doctors declared them brought dead.

    The police seized the mini-truck and five cattle.

  • Chhattisgarh: 45-year-old man beaten to death, five injured by mob on cattle theft suspicion

    By PTI
    BILASPUR: A 45-year-old man was allegedly beaten to death and five others suffered injuries after a mob of villagers attacked them on the suspicion of cattle theft in Chhattisgarh’s Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi (GPM) district, police said on Saturday.

    At least six persons have been arrested in connection with the incident that took place in Salheghori village under Gaurela police station area on Thursday, an official said.

    The victims hailed from Medhakhar village located in Amarkantank police station limits of Madhya Pradesh.

    Two men from Medhakhar had come to transport four buffaloes procured by someone, from Salheghori to their village on Wednesday night, he said.

    “The duo was intercepted by locals, who asked them to show the documents to prove that the cattle was owned by them. But when the men failed to do so, the villagers accused the victims of stealing the cattle and beat them up with sticks,” the official said.

    Soon, other villagers also joined them in the attack and locked the duo in a community hall in the village, he said.

    On Thursday morning, four relatives of the two men reached Salheghori, where locals quarrelled with them and proceeded to thrash them with sticks, in which one of them died on the spot, he said.

    A police team rushed to the spot and shifted the five injured men to a hospital, while the body of the deceased, Surat Banjara, was sent for post-mortem, the police official said.

    Based on a preliminary probe, local Janpad member Sukhram Bhaina, sarpanch of Salheghori village Purushottam Baiga, former sarpanch Krishna Kumar Baiga, and three others were arrested in connection with the attack, he said.

    At least 22 more persons were allegedly involved in the attack and they are being identified, he said, adding that a case has been registered in this connection.

  • SHO lynching case: Seven Bihar cops suspended for dereliction of duty

    By ANI
    KISHANGANJ: Seven Bihar police personnel, including Circle Inspector, Manish Kumar, were suspended in Kishanganj Bihar on Sunday on the charges of dereliction of duty.

    The seven police personnel ran away leaving the Station House Officer (SHO) on-site alone when a mob attacked them on Saturday in West Bengal’s Pantapada.

    On the recommendation of SP Kumar Ashish, IG Suresh Kumar Chaudhary of Purnia Range suspended the policemen for leaving the SHO of Kishanganj Police Station alone on the incident site.

    Seven cops–Raju Sahni, Akhileshwar Tiwari, Pramod Kumar Paswan, Ujjwal Kumar Paswan, Sunil Chaudhary, Sushil Kumar along with Circle Inspector Manish Kumar were suspended.

    “Strict punishment will be given to all seven police personnel after carrying out departmental action,” said SP.

    The officer had ventured into the neighbouring area with his team under Panjipara police station while conducting raids to look for the culprit in connection with bike theft where a mob attacked the team.

    The SHO was brutally beaten and throttled to death and his body was left abandoned at the spot. Later his body was taken to the Islampur hospital in Bengal.

    The deceased police official was a 1994 batch inspector and a resident of Janakinagar in Purnia district. He was posted to Bihar’s Kishanganj Police Station last year.

    During a meeting on Friday, SP Kumar Ashish had issued notice to all station heads regarding the growing incidents of robbery in the region and also assigned them the task to arrest the warrantees. (ANI)

  • Bihar cop killed by mob during raid in Bengal

    Express News Service
    PATNA: An SHO from Bihar’s Kishanganj was lynched at a Bengal village early on Saturday morning.

    Bihar’s Kishanganj Town PS SHO Ashwani Kumar fell prey to the violent attack, when he went to raid a hideout of vehicle thieves on early Saturday morning.

    SP Kishanganj Kumar Ashish said that the SHO was a bright officer. It is said that he had gone to the hideout following a tip-off. The SHO was lynched by a mob at Pantapada village of Gowalpokhar police station area of ​​West Bengal. 

    According to Mrityunjay K Singh-president of Bihar Police Association, the SHO was brutally beaten and throttled to death.

    It is said that, the body was left abondoned at the spot and later taken to nearby hospital.

  • Bihar police officer lynched in West Bengal

    Express News Service
    PATNA: An SHO from Bihar’s Kishanganj was lynched at a Bengal village early on Saturday morning.

    Bihar’s Kishanganj Town PS SHO Ashwani Kumar fell prey to the violent attack, when he went to raid a hideout of vehicle thieves on early Saturday morning.

    SP Kishanganj Kumar Ashish said that the SHO was a bright officer. It is said that he had gone to the hideout following a tip off. The SHO was lynched by a mob at Pantapada village of Gowalpokhar police station area of ​​West Bengal. 

    According to Mrityunjay K Singh-president of Bihar Police Association, the SHO was brutally beaten and throttled to death.

    It is saidd that, the body was left abondoned at the spot and later taken to nearby hospital.