UP man lynched in Tripura on suspicion of being child lifter

The announcer, Sukanta Chakraborty of Manikghar, was killed on the spot, while the driver of the vehicle was severely beaten up

Agartala: One more person was reportedly lynched in Tripura on Thursday, this time in Kalachera under Subroom sub-division in the extreme south bordering Bangladesh.

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

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.

Earlier on Thursday, a person was lynched while three others were injured by a mob suspecting them to be child lifters in Tripura's Urabari area.

The deceased, Zahir Khan, was from Uttar Pradesh and engaged in retailing of crockery and garments in remote markets for the last 20 years in Tripura.

The incident took place this morning when three of them reached Urabari in a car, and a mob comprising of more than 300 people attacked the trio after they mistook them to be child-traffickers.

On receiving information, troopers from a nearby Tripura State Rifles camp rushed to the spot to rescue them but were overpowered by the mob.

Later, an additional force was called and Police had to resort to tear gas shells, lathi-charge, and fire in the air to control the irate mob.

One of the injured Swapan Mia said, "There were around 300 to 400 people who attacked us. They suspected us child lifters in reference to the Mohanpur incident. I showed them my driving license, Aadhar and identity card but they still attacked us."

Last month, in a similar incident, two men were lynched by the villagers of Panjuri Kacharigaon in Assam's Karbi Anglong after the mob mistook them as child lifters.

All these attacks are the result of panic created across the state after rumours were spread that a group of organised child lifters have entered the state which the state government and DGP have categorically denied and appealed to the people to stop spreading and believing on rumours.

Meanwhile, internet services remain suspended in Tripura for 48 hours to stop the circulation of rumours through social media.