Youth lynched on mere suspicion of cow theft

In a tragic incident, a youth was lynched by a mob on mere suspicion of him being a cow lifter.

The incident triggered tension at Moinaguri in Jalpaiguri on Tuesday night. Police said that the victim was roaming at the village, when the local residents caught him.

The people from this village were furious as there were repeated incidents of cow theft in recent  times. The local people started beating up the victim as they thought him to be a thief.

The local residents told the police that the accused had entered into a house to steal a cow late Tuesday night. But the owner of the house heard a sound and came out to see the accused.

As he shouted, other villagers soon rushed to the spot and managed to catch the accused. They beat up indiscriminately and left the victim seriously injured.

After being informed, the police rushed to the spot on early Wednesday morning and took him to the hospital where the victim was declared brought dead. Police have started a detailed inquiry into the incident and are interrogating the local people. They are yet to divulge the identity of the victim.

Police are also investigating if there is any other angle into his death. They came to know in the investigation that two people were lynched to death by the villagers in Moinaguri few months ago.

It may be mentioned here that few months ago, an ITI student was brutally killed on the suspicion of being a cattle thief. The incident occurred at Diamond Harbour in South 24 Parganas few months ago. The incident had created much furore across the state. There were some other such incidents reported across the state in recent past. A probe has been initiated in the connection with the Jalpaiguri case.