Agartala, June 30: A 33-year-old man hired by the Tripura Information and Culture Department to spread awareness against rumours about child-lifters on social media was lynched by villagers on the night of June 28 at Kalacherra Bazaar in South Tripura district. Sukanta Chakrabarty was lynched on suspicion of being a child-lifter. Chakrabarty was lynched just a few hours after a garment seller was beaten to death by villagers in Mohanpur in West Tripura district. The villagers believing fake messages on WhatsApp and other social media platforms about child-lifters thrashed the garment seller and his two friends.

Chakrabarty had been moving from village to village with a loudspeaker asking people not to get believe the rumours. Two other men who were accompanying Chakrabarty were also thrashed. Their vehicle was also damaged. On Thursday, within 24 hours, three lynching incidents were reported from different areas of Tripura. An Unidentified woman was also lynched and another injured when she along with four men was moving in a vehicle at Bishalgarh in Sipahijala district on 28 June.

Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb and Law Minister Ratan Lal Nath blamed the CPI(M) for the lynching incidents, whereas,  the left party and the Congress held the law minister responsible for the cases. Deb said, "The CPI(M) has hatched a conspiracy to tarnish the image of the government with an ulterior motive. Many of those arrested in connection with the incidents were CPI(M) workers."

Following the lynching incidents, Tripura Director General of Police A K Shukla yesterday suspended SMS and Internet services in the entire state for 48 hours. According to Assistant Inspector General of Police (IGP)(law and order) Smriti Ranjan Das, 12 people were arrested in the three cases till Thursday evening. Social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter arebeing misused for spreading rumours and fake images.

(With inputs from PTI)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 30, 2018 08:10 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).