A 15-year-old boy, working as an assistant to a truck driver, was lynched to death by a mob at railway colony of Kumarghat in Unokoti district of Tripura on the charge of theft of a mobile on September 18.
Police on September 19 said that three persons of Sukantanagar village in the area were arrested for leading the mob. Police said after getting report of lynching in early morning, they rescued Ishan and shifted to hospital where he was declared dead. The boy was allegedly beaten up from midnight in an isolated place.
According to grandmother of the victim, a railway vendor alleged that a local BJP cadre Rajan Sutradhar had proposed the lady few days ago to allow them to hold night party in her house. But she refused it and then he threatened the family to leave the locality. On September 17 night, Ishan was sleeping in a loaded truck when Ranjan and other picked him up and charged him for mobile theft.
It was alleged that the boy was brutally beaten up on his private parts and in the morning. His mother came to know about the incident in the morning on September 18 and reported it to police. The victim’s mother alleged that police did not respond on time and rather insulted them in the police station blaming the whole family as thieves and when police reached the spot was too late.
“Despite knowing everything Kumarghat police station did nothing to save his life,” the victim family said adding that the officer in charge of Kumarghat police station tried to justify his inaction, saying the allegations of theft had triggered a mob fury.
When villagers raised voice against the incident, police arrested Rajan Sutradhar, Dilip Das and Sukesh Das but set three other female suspects free.
The villagers on September 19 sent a complaint to Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb against local police for inaction and shielding the accused persons.
