A frenzied mob attacked four people in Assam's Biswanath district over suspicions of cow theft. One person was killed while the other three were left critically injured after the attack. The police have said that the attack happened 230 km away from Dibrugarh at the Diplunga tea estate on Wednesday morning, August 15.
"Four persons from Sootea were travelling in a tempo van when they were attacked by a mob at 4 am. Locals allege the victims had stolen cows," a police officer was quoted as saying by HT. The police have recovered two stolen cows from the van in which the four men were travelling. The driver of the van managed to escape but the remaining four were attacked by as many as 20 people with sticks and clubs.
A video of the incident has also gone viral on social media where one of the victims could be seen pleading to the mob to spare him with folded hands.
"We were on our way to buy pigs from Diplunga tea estate early on Wednesday morning when a mob armed with sticks, iron rods etc. stopped us and started attacking, accusing us of being cow thieves," one of the victims told local media.
Even though the injured people have denied being cow thieves, the police are now confident that they had stolen cows and were transporting them. The police have also registered a case of cow theft against them and said that they still don't have any information that the victims were going to buy pigs instead. The police will record their statements once the injured victims feel better.
While three of the victims identified as Phoolchand Sahu, Bijoy Nayak and Pujen Rajbongshi are currently undergoing treatment at a private nursing home in Biswanath Chariali town, Deben Rajbongshi succumbed to his injuries.
There have been arrests so far in the case. Just two months ago, two men from Guwahati were lynched by a mob on suspicion of being child lifters. An angry mob had also killed two people last April on allegations of cow theft in Nagaon district. The police have urged people not to take law into their own hands and have also launched a campaign against fake news.
