Agartala, June 29: In another incident of mob lynching on suspicion of child-theft, one person was killed and two others injured in Tripura on Thursday. According to a report published in Hindustan Times, an angry crowd attacked three persons who had gone in a van to sell utensils after suspecting them as child-lifters. The incident took place at Murabari area in Sidhai, nearly 28 km from capital Agartala.

The deceased has been identified as Zahid Khan (30), while two others who have been injured are identified as Gulzan Ahmed Khan and 22-year-old Khursheed. As per police, Zahid and Gulzan belong to Bihar and Khursheed hails from Uttar Pradesh.

According to the report, some locals believing rumours on WhatsApp and social media about the presence of child-lifters in the area thrashed the victims. Even the police were attacked when they reached the spot to rescue the victims. The police also said that one policeman and a local resident were also injured in the incident.

The injured were rushed to a nearby hospital where Zahid was declared brought dead while the condition of the other two victims is critical. According to the report, the victims tried to save their lives from the mob by taking shelter at a nearby Tripura State Rifles (TSR) camp, but the mob entered the compound and started thrashing them there.

An official from the police headquarter control room told Hindustan Times, “All senior officers are on the spot. More details will be known later.” On Tuesday a body of an 11-year-old child was recovered in the state from Mohanpur, since then rumours of child-lifters are spreading in the region. According to the report, DGP Akhil Kumar Shukla denied the child-lifters rumour and appealed to the people to avoid the controversial news. He also asked people not to share such news on social media without confirmation.

Three suspects have been arrested so far by the police allegedly for spreading the rumours. To maintain law and order in the state, internet and SMS services have been suspended for next 48 hours from Thursday at 2 PM.

Lynching incidents have increased over the last few months, where crowd have attacked innocent people on suspicion of being child-lifters after believing fake WhatsApp messages. In April, Bengaluru Police arrested 13 people for allegedly lynching a 26-year-old man from Rajasthan at Pension Mohalla in the city’s Chamrajpet area. Recently, Singrauli Police in Madhya Pradesh has arrested a local journalist for allegedly spreading rumours on WhatsApp.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 29, 2018 09:31 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).