A person was lynched in West Bengal’s Asansol on Wednesday morning on suspicion of being a child-lifter, police said. One man has been arrested and several others have been detained for their alleged involvement in the attack.
The incident took place barely a fortnight after the West Bengal Assembly passed a Bill on August 30 against mob assault and incidents of lynching with provision for life imprisonment to those injuring a person and capital punishment for causing death.
According to officers of Asansol Durgapur Police Commissionerate, the victim, aged 35-40, was tied to a lamp post and beaten up on suspicion of being a child-lifter. He was later untied and thrashed again by the mob, they said. A huge police contingent rushed to the spot and rescued the man, who later succumbed to his injuries at a State-run hospital, the officers said.
“We are yet to identify the person. We have arrested one person and have detained a few others on the basis of video clippings of the incident that went viral,” a senior police officer said.
“We have started an investigation into the case,” he added.
