A man who was reportedly thrashed by a mob on Friday, 9 August, on suspicion of child-lifting, succumbed to his injuries on Saturday, reported ANI. Garima Malik, SSP Patna told the news agency, “Today an incident of mob lynching has been reported from Naubatpur. Police responded immediately and we have arrested 22 persons."
The accused are yet to be identified. Malik further said police have been trying to make people aware that no such incident of child lifting has been reported so far. She urged people to not fall for such rumours.
Earlier on Wednesday, Patna Police had confirmed that 12 mob lynching incidents had been reported in the last 15 days.
ADG Jitendra Kumar told ANI that the culprits had been identified and arrested. He acknowledged that these kind of incidents are happening as people are believing rumours. Patna police had conducted a drive to raise awareness on fake news, and asked people to report any suspicious claim to their nearest police station.
(With inputs from ANI)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)