One killed, three injured in Assam as mob attacks ‘cow thieves’
Guwahati : One person was killed and three others seriously injured in an attack by a mob over suspicions that they were cow thieves in Biswanath district of upper Assam, police said on Thursday.
According to the police, the incident took place at Diplunga tea estate, nearly 230km from the state capital, early on Wednesday.
“Four persons from Sootea were travelling in a tempo van when they were attacked by a mob at 4:00am. Locals allege the victims had stolen cows,” said a police official from Sootea police station on the condition of anonymity.
The police said two stolen cows were recovered from the van. While the driver of the vehicle escaped from the scene, a mob of nearly 20 people attacked the four men with sticks and clubs.
A video of the incident captured on a mobile phone, which is doing the rounds on social media, shows the victims sitting on the ground and pleading to be spared with folded hands while others rained blows on them.
“We were on our way to buy pigs from Diplunga tea estate early on Wednesday morning when a mob armed with sticks, iron rods etc. stopped us and started attacking, accusing us of being cow thieves,” one of the injured victims told local television channels.
The police, however, maintain that the victims had stolen cows and were transporting them.
“A case of cow theft has been registered. We have no information about the victims going to buy pigs. Since they are injured we are yet to record their statements,” said the official.
The injured victims were taken to a private nursing home in Biswanath Chariali town where one of them, Deben Rajbongshi, died. The other three, Phoolchand Sahu, Bijoy Nayak and Pujen Rajbongshi, who sustained injuries on their heads, legs and arms, are undergoing treatment.
All the victims belong to the ‘adivasi’ community who are mainly employed in the tea gardens of the area.
“We have launched an operation against those responsible for the attack on the victims. No one has been arrested yet,” Biswanath superintendent of police Diganta Kumar Chowdhury said.
Wednesday’s incident comes two months after two men from Guwahati were lynched by a mob in Karbi Anglong district on suspicion of being child lifters.
Following the incident, both the police and state administration had launched a campaign against fake news and urged people not to take law into their own hands. But incidents of moral policing and mob justice haven’t stopped.
In April last year, two people were killed by an angry mob following an allegation of cow theft in Nagaon district of central Assam. It was the first reported case of deaths in a mob attack on ‘cow thieves’.
courtesy : hindustantimes.com
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Delhi Polls: Congress promises Rs 500 LPG cylinder, free ration, electricity
New Delhi, Jan 16 (PTI): The Congress on Thursday said it would give Rs 500 LPG cylinder, free ration kits, and free electricity up to 300 units to the city residents if voted to power in Delhi.
The announcement was made by Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy who was addressing a press conference here with AICC Delhi in-charge Qazi Nizamuddin and Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav.
"Congress threw out the minor partner in the liquor scam from power in Telangana and now it was the turn of the people of Delhi to throw out the major partner in the liquor scam, Arvind Kejriwal, from power in Delhi," Reddy said.
He said that there was "political pollution, environment pollution and pollution of lies" and the time has come for the people to make a decisive change by electing Congress to power.
"Congress will fulfil all its five guarantees if it is elected to power in Delhi," Reddy said.
"There is no difference between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal. They have done nothing for the national capital," Reddy said.
He also said his government in Telangana waived farmer loans to the tune of Rs 21,000 crore in one year.
Having earlier announced three promises, the Congress on Thursday announced two more.
Yadav said the party came up with the promises on the back of the feedback it gleaned from its Delhi Nyay Yatra.
"We took out the Delhi Nyay Yatra and got to know about the issues of people which helped us come up with these five guarantees. Today we have announced two more guarantees -- 'Mehangai Mukti Yojana' and 'Free Bijli Yojana'. We will implement these five guarantees in the first cabinet meeting if we come to power," he said.
Reddy said the Congress fulfilled all its promises within 13 months of coming to power in Telangana and it will do the same in Delhi.
He said the rise in prices of commodities and unemployment had impacted the housewives the most.
The free ration kit will contain five kg of rice, two kg of sugar, one litre of edible oil, six kg pulses and 250 grams of tea, he said.
Reddy said three hundred units of free power will ease people's financial burden.
"Modi talks about sending people to the moon, but he could not address the life-threatening air pollution in Delhi," he said.
The Congress government under Sheila Dikshit carried out unprecedented work, including the creation of the largest metro rail network in the country, but Kejriwal only made false promises in his three tenures as the CM, the Telangana CM alleged.
Yadav alleged that there was a scam in the AAP government's free electricity scheme.
"There was a big scam in Kejriwal's 200-unit free power scheme with the money going through the power distribution companies as Kejriwal refused to audit the accounts of the Discoms due to his complicity with them. The Congress' 300-unit free power will be implemented transparently through direct bank transfer (DBT)," he said.
On January 6, the Congress announced its 'Pyaari Didi Yojana,' promising a monthly monetary grant of Rs 2,500 to women, if it is voted to power.
On January 8, the party announced its 'Jeevan Raksha Yojana,' under which it promised to provide free health insurance of up to Rs 25 lakh.
The party on Sunday also promised to give Rs 8,500 every month to educated unemployed youths in Delhi every month for one year.
Polling for the 70-member Delhi Assembly will be held on February 5 and votes will be counted on February 8.
