Three people were beaten to death allegedly by villagers on suspicion that they were cattle-lifters. The incident took place at Chopra village in Raigunj on Thursday night. The police learnt that villagers attacked these people when they saw them standing in front of a cattle shed. At least 10-15 villagers, who were guarding the village at night, started beating them with bamboo-made rods.
The policemen found three men lying in the pool of blood. They were taken to nearby hospital but were declared brought dead. "We have initiated a case. But nobody has been arrested till now," said a senior police officer on Friday. The investigators identified the deceased as – Samiruddin Haque, Nasiruddin Haque and Nasir Haque — residents of nearby Durgapur village. "We have found two motorbikes from the spot, brought by Samiruddin and Nasiruddin," the officer added.
The investigators identified the deceased as – Samiruddin Haque, Nasiruddin Haque and Nasir Haque — residents of nearby Durgapur village. "We have found two motorbikes from the spot, brought by Samiruddin and Nasiruddin," the officer added.
The bodies were sent for post-mortem to Islampur Sub-Divisional Hospital.
The investigators further learnt that incidents of cattle-lifting have been frequent in Chopra and its adjoining villages for the last couple of months. The villagers had lodged FIRs with local police station against the alleged lifters as well. The villagers also alleged that police did not take any action against cattle lifting and it has become a serious issue in the village. "We have informed the mater to the Panchayat and the police station. But incidents of cattle lifting has increased in this area compared to earlier days," said a villagers.
The investigators interrogated some villagers to identify the assailants. "The assailants are local villagers and they attacked those persons on a mere suspicion that they were cattle-lifters," the officer added. "It is still unclear to us that why Samiruddin Haque, Nasiruddin Haque and Nasir Haque were standing in front of the cattle shed on that night. We still do not know whether they were connected to any cattle smuggling racket or not. We will interrogate the family members of the deceased persons very soon," the officer said.