Two persons were lynched in Barohalia village under the Gandang Gram Panchayat, Dhupguri Block of the Jalpaiguri district in North Bengal under suspicion of being cattle thieves.
The incident occurred in the wee hours of Sunday. The deceased have been identified as Anwar Hussein (19 years) and Hafizul Sheikh (20.) While Hussein is a resident of Sakunibala area under Pundibari Police Station of Cooch Behar district, Sheikh is from Choto Guma of Dhubri, Assam.
At around 2:30 am a vehicle was found speeding through the remote Barohalia village. Awoken by the sound of a pick up late at night vehicle the villagers came out to investigate. They saw a vehicle approaching and stopped it.
They found the pick-up full of cattle. Questions were asked as to where the vehicle was going in the dead of the night through the village. A scuffle ensued when the duo could not give a sound explanation.
Following this, the duo was beaten up badly. A large police contingent arrived from the Dhupguri Police Station. The two were then rushed by the police to the Dhupguri Hospital. The doctors at the Hospital proclaimed them dead.
The vehicle along with the cattle have been seized by the police. The local resident alleged that since the past few days there have been multiple repowers of cattle theft from this area. They further alleged that the duo were involved in the incidents of cattle theft.
Police officials claim that no documents were found from the possession of the two relating to transportation of cattle. Cattle theft and smuggling is a common phenomenon in this region having a close proximity to the Bangladesh border. Dhupguri is 30 km away from the Bangladesh border.
Amitava Maity, Superintendent of Police, Jalpaiguri stated, “If they suspected foul play they should have informed the police. They should not have taken law into their own hands. Stringent action will be taken against those who were involved in the lynching.”
A large police contingent is camping in the area. The situation is under control. Incidentally in June this year, three persons were lynched in the Chopra block of North Dinajpur district for alleged cattle theft.
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