A mob in Tripura attacked hawker from Uttar Pradesh. He was lynched and two others were injured on Thursday after a mob suspected them of being child-lifters, police said.
The incident took place at Murabari in West Tripura district, about 30 kilometres from Agartala.
The three hawkers had come to Murabari for trade purposes around 9.30 am, Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of Police Smriti Ranjan Das said.
The AIG said that they had hired a vehicle from Bitterban, an urban slum, and when they reached the area, people suspecting them to be child lifters started beating them up.
“The hawkers along with their driver sought refuge in a Tripura State Rifles (TSR) camp in the area. However, nearly a thousand agitated people chased them and entered the camp, and lynched one of the hawkers,” Das said.
TSR jawans had to fire two rounds in the air and four tear gas shells to disperse the mob.
One of the hawkers died and four people — the other two hawkers, the hired car’s driver, and a police constable — were injured in the incident, Das said.
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The two other hawkers, from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and the car’s driver have been admitted to the GB Pant Hospital, they said.
To stop false rumours from spreading Tripura Director General of Police AK Shukla issued a notification stating that the text message service of all cell phone service providers and internet data services have been suspended in the district for the next 48 hours.
“It has been noticed that SMS, WhatsApp and social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are being widely used for transmission of fake images and videos as well as text messages which have potential to incite violence in the state at a larger rate,” the DGP said in the notification.
Rumours of a child lifting gang involved in organ harvesting were sparked off after an 11-year-old boy was found murdered on Tuesday night. A Class 4 student, Purna Biswas’s body was found near his home in western Tripura’s Mohanpur locality.
Image Source – NDTV