Suspected thief dies after being thrashed in Bengal
The incident followed a series of kangaroo trials and lynching in various parts of Bengal, including one in Kolkata, that have caused concern for the state government
A suspected thief died at a medical clinic in the Bhangar area of Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district on Sunday, hours after he was allegedly beaten up by some local people, police said.
“The victim was identified as Asgar Molla. Local people said he was a drug addict and was caught red handed while stealing several times in the past at the same marketplace where the incident happened early on Sunday morning,” a police officer said on condition of anonymity.
“The body has been sent for postmortem and an investigation is on. The family of the deceased did not lodge any complaint till Sunday afternoon. No arrest has been made so far. Footages from security cameras installed at the market have been collected,” the officer added.
District Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and legislator Saokat Molla said, “Police will take appropriate action.”
The Bhangar incident followed a series of kangaroo trials and lynching in various parts of Bengal, including one in Kolkata, that have caused concern for the state government.
As many as eight people, including Sunday’s victim, have died since June 22 in such incidents.
The last victim was Bachcha Tudu, a tribal woman who died of critical injuries at a hospital in north Bengal’s Siliguri on July 4, a week after she was declared a witch and assaulted by relatives of her husband, who died of natural causes in early June, police said.
A 23-year-old man was allegedly beaten to death over suspicion of theft at Tarakeswar in Hooghly district on June 30. Similar instances were reported in Kolkata on June 28, Salt Lake (on the eastern outskirts of Kolkata) on June 29 and Jhargram district on June 22.
