Three lynched in Tripura on suspicion of cattle theft: Police

In February, a lorry driver was beaten to death by some unidentified persons at Lalcherri village of Dhalai district.

On Sunday morning, villagers of Namanjoypara found the trio fleeing with five cattle in a vehicle, the police said.

Three men suspected of ‘smuggling’ cattle were allegedly lynched in Tripura’s Khowai district on Sunday, police said.

The deceased were Zayed Hussein (28), Billal Miah (30) and Saiful Islam (18), all residents of Sonamura in Sepahijala district, said Khowai district superintendent of police Kiran Kumar.

On Sunday morning, villagers of Namanjoypara found the trio fleeing with five animals in a vehicle, the police said.

Story continues below this ad

A mob later stopped the vehicle at Uttar Maharanipur, 10 kilometres away. They thrashed Zayed and Billal, while Saiful managed to flee. However, he was caught at Mungiakami. The beaten-up trio was taken to local primary health centres and later to Govind Ballabh Pant (GBP) Hospital at Agartala, where they were declared brought dead.

Two separate cases — for cattle smuggling and mob lynching — were filed at Champahower and Kayanpur police stations. No one has been arrested yet.

In February, a lorry driver was beaten to death by some unidentified persons at Lalcherri village of Dhalai district.

In December 2020, a 21-year old youth, suspected of theft, was lynched by a mob in Agartala. Tripura was in the news for a series of mob-lynching incidents in 2018 over rumours of child kidnappers.