Assam: Army rescued six from child-lifter bogey
GUWAHATI, July 6, 2018: On Thursday, six persons hailing from Uttar Pradesh were rescued from Karbi Anglong-like possible lynching in Dima Hasao district.
Timely action by the army had rescued three priest at Mahur town, while three were rescued by police 29km away at Haflong, the district headquarters. The police said locals, in both the cases, became suspicious because rumours of child-lifters' presence in the area were rife.
The police said a group of people intercepted the car in which the priests had entered Mahur from Harangajao town in the afternoon and picked up a quarrel with them. They pelted stones and pulled out the passengers.
As the crowd swelled, some local residents, fearing a Karbi Anglong-like situation, called the army unit based in Mahur. Army personnel reached the spot within minutes and rescued one of the priests. The other two, who had managed to flee, were also caught by locals about half-a-kilometre away and handed over to the army. The three priests, aged between 26 and 31 years, have been identified as Shiv Bhan from Gautam Budh Nagar, a part of National Capital Region, Amar Giri from Allahabad and Mahant Sunipuri from Patan. The police said the priests were taken to the army camp for questioning before being taken to Mahur police station.
In Haflong too, locals tried to attack the three "strangers", suspecting them to be child-lifters. Police are yet to give the details.
Guwahati youths Nilotpal Das and Abhijit Nath were lynched at Panjuri in neighbouring Karbi Anglong district, where they had gone to see a waterfall, on June 8 on suspicion of being child-lifters. A local boy had told other villagers that two child-lifters had entered their village and kidnapped a child, following which Nilotpal and Abhijit were stopped and lynched. The locals believed the boy as "fake news" about child-lifters was swirling on social media.
The Dima Hasao administration said deputy commissioner Amitabh Rajkhowa and superintendent of police Prasanta Saikia held a meeting at Haflong with community leaders and officials to prevent such rumour-triggered incidents. The administration has opened a helplineto report such incidents.
One can reach the helpline by dialling: 9435422555 or 8631389873.
