DIMAPUR: Two persons were arrested by police in connection with Sunday’s lynching of two alleged cattle thieves in Assam’s Nagaon district.
Even as given the communal angle, the authorities put in place precautionary measures to thwart any untoward incidents.
Robin Bordoloi and Dewaram Bordoloi were arrested for their alleged role in the incident.
The police said Abu Halifa, 23, and Aiyazuddin Ali, 24, were lynched after some locals had raised an alarm, accusing the victims of chasing away two cows from a grazing ground in Kasomari village in the district.
As news about the attempted theft spread like wildfire, a mob chased the duo down and beat them brutally. The police had managed to rescue the victims and rushed them to a hospital,but they succumbed to their injuries later.
“Robin Bordoloi and Dewaram Bordoloi were arrested as they were part of the incident. We are trying to find the people who had instigated the mob. There will certainly be more than two,” Nagaon superintendent of police (SP), Devraj Upadhyaya, told the New Indian Express.
“There is a communal line but there is no gauraksa element in the incident. It was criminality. Given what happened, we are not taking any chances and have increased patrolling in the area. We are constantly monitoring the situation,” he said.
The SP said he had visited the victim’s houses on Sunday as well as on Monday, and appealed to the families and locals not to take the law into their hands. He assured them that the perpetrators of the crime would be brought to book.