Residents of Sitaljhiri village of Madhya Pradesh thrashed two Congress leaders and a social worker mistaking them to be kidnappers who targeted young children, ANI reported.
The incident took place on Thursday, 25 July, when Congress leader Dharmendra Shukla, Dharmu Singh Lanjiwar and Adivasi community leader Lalit Baraskar were returning from Kesia village.
According to NDTV, the mob had blocked the main road using fallen trees over rumours that a gang that kidnapped children was in the village.
The leaders took the villagers for highway robbers, leading to a chase. They were eventually caught and thrashed.
“They had gone to meet another Congress leader for some work in the nearby village. While returning, the villagers tried to stop them by shouting, they instead chose to flee the scene which resulted in the locals attacking their car and some physical confrontation also ensued,” Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Ramsnehi Mishra told ANI.
“There are some rumours doing the rounds regarding kidnappers being active in this area. We are trying to educate people not to rely on those as they are untrue. As far as the current matter is concerned we have filed a case under relevant sections of the IPC and are carrying out investigations,” he added
(With inputs from ANI and NDTV)
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