A day after two persons were lynched at a village in Dhupguri block of the State’s Jalpaiguri district on suspicion of stealing cows, three persons have been arrested in the case.
A senior State police official who confirmed the arrests did not give any more details.
According to police, Hafizul Sheikh of Dhubri district in Assam and Anwar Hussain of Patlakhawa village of Cooch Behar district were beaten to death by locals in the early hours of Sunday at the Dadan II gram panchayat area in Jalpaiguri’s Dhupguri block.
Speaking to journalists the family members and neighbours of Anwar said that he often worked as an assistant for a local van driver and had nothing to do with cow theft.
Beaten to death
“We are a poor family. Anwar often worked as a helper to contribute to the family. He was not a cow thief,” said Anwar’s father Mahamadul Hussain.
He also said that he had received information that Anwar and Sheikh were beaten to death after they were unable to pay ₹50, 000 demanded by the locals.
“After capturing the pick-up van, the villagers asked them what they were carrying.
“When the villagers found they were transporting cows, they demanded ₹50,000 from Anwar and two others travelling with him. The villagers beat them to death after they were unable to pay,” said Mr. Mahamadul Hussain.
Mr. Hussain’s neighbours also said that Anwar “had studied at a local madrasa and was never involved in cow theft.”
A resident of the Dadan II gram panchayat area said: “The locals were angry over an incident of cow theft in the area a few days back. Most probably the incident was an outcome of that.”
