Two individuals were lynched in separate incidents in Assam early Thursday morning, the latest in a series of killings on suspicion of theft.
In one incident, 45-year-old Majibul Haque, who was allegedly suspected of attempting to steal goats, was killed in Padmajhar village in Darrang district. In the other incident, 27-year-old Binod Brahma was killed in Tinipukhuri village in Tamulpur district, also on suspicion of theft.
Darrang police announced the arrest of 14 people from Padmajhar and a neighboring village in connection with Haque’s death, while Tamulur police said they had apprehended three people and were trying to identify the main suspect.
According to Darrang Superintendent of Police Prakash Sonowal, Haque was not a resident of the village where he was killed, but lived nearby in Naopota.
“The incident occurred early in the morning, around 3:15 am. According to local reports, he was caught trying to take the goats from someone’s property. He attempted to flee but was caught in a commotion and a crowd gathered. Haque succumbed to his injuries after police arrived and took him to a nearby hospital,” Sonowal said.
Regarding Brahma’s death, Tamulpur SP Pankaj Yadav said: “He allegedly entered a home with the intention of stealing. The family members and neighbors gathered and assaulted him, resulting in his death. Through local inquiries, we have learned that his wife works elsewhere, and he has a habit of wandering and picking things up.”
Both killings occurred days after the lynching of Hifzur Rahman in Hojai district on August 12, who was suspected of cattle theft. Eight people were arrested in connection with the killing.
The two lynchings on Thursday also came a day after former MLA Shiladitya Dev visited Bamungaon village, where Rahman was killed, and met the families of the arrested men.
“Though this is a Hindu village, they are surrounded by Muslim villages in four directions and live here as a minority. They have been living in fear and filing theft cases for many years, but since they are a minority here, even the police neglects them,” he told the media after meeting the families.
On July 24, Saddam Hussain was lynched in Morigaon district when a mob attacked him and two others, suspecting them to be cattle smugglers. Five people were arrested following the incident.
Amid this series of lynchings, Assam DGP G P Singh stated that “lawful action has been taken” in all reported cases.
“I’ve instructed the SPs to take action per law in each such case irrespective of caste, creed, religion. For me, any violation of law is a matter of concern… I’ve given instructions on social media platforms as well so that the public has confidence that police leadership does not condone such activities and take lawful action in all such cases,” he said.
