DURG: At least 14 persons have been arrested in connection with the attack on three men dressed as sadhus on suspicion of being child abductors in Chhattisgarh's Durg district earlier this week, police said on Friday.
The accused were apprehended based on videos of the incident that took place in Charoda town under Bhilai police station limits on Wednesday, Durg Superintendent of Police Abhishek Pallava said.
At least 30 to 35 persons, who were seen thrashing the men dressed as sadhus (religious ascetics) in the videos, have been identified and more arrests will be made in the case soon, he said.
The victims, Rajbir Singh (28), Shyam Singh (23) and Aman Singh (28), were seen speaking to some children at a Dussehra fair, which raised suspicion in local residents, the official said.
Suspecting them to be members of a gang that abducts children, a mob gathered there and thrashed the trio.
The police soon reached the spot, rescued the three men and brought the situation under control, he said. The trio was shifted to a local hospital and discharged after preliminary treatment, the official said.
The victims were natives of Rajasthan, but did not carry any identification documents, Pallava said, adding they were allowed to leave after questioning.
An FIR (first information report) under sections 294 (obscene acts), 506 (criminal intimidation ), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 147 (rioting) of the Indian Penal Code was registered and 30 people were detained for questioning, the official said.
The Durg police have appealed to people not to react to rumours about child lifting with violence and take law into their own hands.