Youth lynched on mere suspicion of cow theft in South 24 Parganas

In another incident of lynching, a youth was killed by a mob on mere suspicion of him being a cow lifter.

The incident occurred at Dharmatala village of Canning in South 24 Parganas on Tuesday night. The incident triggered tension in the area prompting the senior police officers in the district to set up a temporary police picket in the area. Police are yet to ascertain the identity of the victim. Local people told the police that the victim came in a truck to lift cows from the area. The villagers chased the accused and caught him.

The local people claimed that there were some other persons with the victim who fled the spot immediately after the incident. The agitated mob set the truck on fire. The villagers claimed that altogether 5 persons entered into the village to steal cows from the village but the most of them had fled. After being informed, the police reached the spot and seized the truck which was damaged in the fire. Police are conducting raids to find the other persons who were accompanying him. Police are also investigating if there was any other angle in the incident. Police have started detailed probe in this regard.

A similar incident occurred in the state in September 2016 when a youth was lynched by a mob on the same suspicion of the victim being a cow lifter. The incident took place at Moinaguri in Jalpaiguri. 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.

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 a furore across the state. Another same incident happened when a youth was beaten to death at South 24 Parganas’Baruipur area.