Mob Lynches Two Youths Carrying Cattle in WB’s Jalpaiguri District

The two 19-year-olds, Anwar Hussain and Hafizul Sheikh, were lynched on suspicion of cow theft.

Two men were allegedly lynched by a mob, which dragged them out of a pick-up van carrying cows, at Barhoria village in Jalpaiguri district on Sunday, the police said.

Anwar Hussain (19) and Hafizul Sheikh (19) were beaten to death by the mob, which intercepted their vehicle and pulled them out of it in the early hours, the police said, adding that the pick-up van was also badly damaged by the mob. A senior district police official was quoted by The Hindu as saying:

Hafizul Sheikh of Dhubri district in Assam and Anwar Hussain of Patlakhawa village of Cooch Behar district were beaten to death by locals at the Dadon II gram panchayat area in Jalpaiguri’s Dhupguri block.

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Police took Hussain and Sheikh to the Dhupguri hospital where they were declared brought dead. The police also took charge of the animals in the vehicle. A large contingent of police was deployed in the area.

The police official also allegedly said, as per The Hindu’s report, that the villagers had spotted a pick-up van carrying cows, which was loitering in the vicinity. According to the same report, when the villagers allegedly questioned the men in the van, they tried to speed away. The police official added, as quoted by The Hindu:

However, the villagers soon captured the van and caught hold of Mr Sheikh and Mr Hussain. The driver fled from the spot. After questioning the two for a while the locals had beaten them to death.

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By the time the police arrived, the two men had died. The police official claimed that the deceased didn’t have a legal permit to transport cattle. However, it is still unclear as to whether they were indeed stealing cows. The senior district police official told The Hindu:

But what we could not figure out is why the deceased were wandering in the village so late at night.

As per the report, Jalpaiguri Superintendent of Police Amitabha Maity has said that strict action will be taken against the perpetrators. He said, “If they thought that the cows were being transported illegally they should have informed the police instead of taking the law in their own hands.”

Following the incident, a large number of policemen have been deployed in the area. Jatishwar Bharati, Jalpaiguri district secretary of the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights was quoted by The Hindu as saying that this is the first case of its kind in Dhugpuri in recent years.

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(With inputs from PTI, The Hindu)

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