A hawker from Uttar Pradesh was lynched and two others were injured on Thursday, 28 June, after a mob in Tripura attacked them on suspicion of being child-lifters, police told PTI.
The incident took place at Murabari in West Tripura district.
The three hawkers, all from outside the state, had come to Murabari around 9:30 am. They had come for trade purposes, Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of Police Smriti Ranjan Das told PTI.
According to a report in The Indian Express, the deceased has been identified as Zahir Khan who was from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh.
The other injured have been identified as Gulzar Ahmed Khan and Khurshid Khan from Bihar, and Swapan Miya from Agartala.
They had hired a vehicle from Bitterban, an urban slum in Agarthala, to travel to Murabari ground, reported PTU. When they alighted from their vehicle, people started beating them up, suspecting them to be child lifters, AIG Das told PTI.
TSR jawans fired two rounds in the air and four tear gas shells to disperse the mob, he said.
One of the hawkers died and four people – the other two hawkers, the hired car’s driver and a police constable – were injured in the incident, Das said. The injured police constable was identified as Sumit Sanyal.
The two other hawkers, from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and the car’s driver, have been admitted to the GB Pant Hospital.
Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) KV Sreejesh, DIG Arindam Nath and other officials visited the spot.
Following the incident, Tripura Director General of Police AK Shukla issued a notification stating that SMS internet data services of all cellular network providers have been suspended in the district for the next 48 hours to prevent rumour mongering.
(With inputs from PTI and The Indian Express)
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