16 arrested for lynching youths in Assam, CM holds review meet
Guwahati, June 10: The Assam Police has arrested 16 persons in connection with the lynching of two Guwahati-based youths in Karbi Anglong district by villagers who mistook them to be child abductors, authorities said on Sunday.
Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Mukesh Agarwala said that police was on the lookout for more people involved in the Friday evening incident.
Nilotpal Das and Abhijeet Nath were brutally killed by a mob near Kathilangso waterfall. The incident has been widely condemned.
Agarwala said that the situation in Dokmoka, where the killings took place, was under control.
"There was tension in the area following the incident but it is under control now," he said.
"In four to five villages around Dokmoka, fake posts went viral on social media about 'xopadhara' or child abductors in the area. Preliminary investigation says that the people in the area suspected the two youths as child lifters and attacked them.
"We appeal to people not to believe rumours and social media posts. We also appeal to the people to inform the police immediately if they find anyone spreading rumours and hate messages," Agarwala added.
Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal later in the day held a high-level meeting to take stock of the law and order situation in the state.
Sonowal asked Director General of Police Kuladhar Saikia to ensure police vigil on all activities and to put an end to canards likely to vitiate public order and peace.
He said that no leniency should be shown to the culprits.
Chief Secretary T.Y. Das and Saikia told the media after the meeting that the state government had taken the lynchings very seriously.
"While 15 were arrested for their involvement in killing, one person was arrested for posting objectionable and fake information on the social media while the mob fury was on on Friday," the DGP said.
The officer also appealed to the people not to pay heed to rumours. "We have instructed police in all Assam districts to take action against those spreading rumours," he said.
A team headed by Additional DGP Harmeet Singh has been set up to strengthen web monitoring.
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Israeli police make arrests after flares fired at prime minister's private residence
Tel Aviv (AP): Israeli police said on Sunday that they have arrested three suspects after flares were fired at the private residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the coastal city of Caesarea.
Authorities said the prime minister and his family were not at the residence when two flares were fired at it overnight, and there were no injuries.
The police did not provide details about the suspects, but officials pointed to domestic political critics of Netanyahu. Israeli President Isaac Herzog condemned the incident and warned against “an escalation of the violence in the public sphere”.
Netanyahu has faced months of mass protests over his handling of the hostage crisis unleashed by Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack into Israel, which ignited the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
Critics blame Netanyahu for the security and intelligence failures that allowed the attack to happen and for not reaching a deal with Hamas to release scores of hostages still held inside Gaza.
A drone launched by Lebanon's Hezbollah group struck Netanyahu's Caesarea residence last month, also when he and his family were away.
