Soldiers on patrol rescued three persons who were surrounded by locals at Mahur in central Assam’s Dima Hasao district on Thursday on the suspicion that they were child-lifters. The trio had come in an Uttar Pradesh-registered car.
Prasanta Saikia, the District’s Superintendent of Police, said the soldiers rescued them before they were assaulted, but the locals had rummaged through their belongings in the car and found an LPG cylinder, some packets, medicines and sprays.
“The cooperation of some local people helped avert a serious situation,” Mr. Saikia said.
Assam has had several cases of lynching triggered by rumours spread through the social media. The worst of these claimed the lives of two adventurer friends – sound engineer Nilotpal Das and businessman Abhijeet Nath – who were clobbered to death in a Karbi Anglong village on suspicion of being child-lifters.
