Man hired by Tripura govt to prevent lynching gets lynched
AGARTALA: A 33-year-old man engaged by the Tripura government to dispel rumours about child-lifters on social media was lynched by villagers, who, ironically, took him to be a kidnapper. The lynching at Kalacherra Bazaar in South Tripura district late on Thursday night came hours after a garment seller was beaten to death by villagers in Mohanpur in West Tripura district for similar reasons.
Sukanta Chakrabarty, who had been moving from village to village with a loudspeaker asking people not to get swayed by rumours, was caught and beaten to death. Two other men who were accompanying Chakrabarty were also assaulted. The vehicle they were travelling in was also damaged.
“The incident took place when Chakrabarty and his companions reached Kalacherra in the evening. Local youth attacked them on suspicion of their being child thieves,” SP (South Tripura) Jalsingh Meena said. “The villagers attacked the three even though they kept saying they were sent by the government for the good of the people,” he added.
On Friday, police began an investigation into the attack and took four people into custody. Villages in the border state, where BJP came to power for the very first time in March, were on edge ever since rumours about the killing of an 11-year old boy by suspected organ smugglers circulated earlier this week.
Sukanta was lynched hours after three garment sellers from Uttar Pradesh — Zaheer Khan, Khurshid Khan and Guljar Khan, were attacked by villagers in Mohanpur, which is close to a Tripura State Rifles camp. Khurshid and Guljar managed to escape along with their driver, Swapan Miah, with the help of TSR personnel. One person was arrested in connection with this case.
Chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb appealed to people to maintain peace and not pay heed to rumours. He alleged that CPM is trying to tarnish the image of his government. The state government imposed a ban on internet and SMS services for 48 hours on Thursday night.
This came after DGP AK Shukla informed the home department that SMS and social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter were being misused for spreading rumours and fake images. Law minister Ratanlal Nath and BJP state general secretary Pratima Bhowmik said they have alerted party workers to thwart similar attacks.
courtesy : timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
