Edit incident article: 2017 Nagaon lynching

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<languages/> <translate> <!--T:9--> The '''2017 Nagaon lynching''' was the killing of two young men, Abu Hanifa and Riyazuddin Ali, who were chased and beaten by villagers at Kasamari in Nagaon district, [[Assam]], on 30 April 2017 after being accused of trying to steal cattle.<ref name="scroll-2017" /><ref name="aljazeera-2017" /> Police registered a murder case and arrested two people, while the victims' families denied that the men were involved in cattle theft.<ref name="quint-2017" /><ref name="easternmirror-2017" /> == Background == <!--T:10--> <!--T:11--> Abu Hanifa and Riyazuddin Ali were neighbours and childhood friends from Naramari, a largely Muslim village on the outskirts of Nagaon town. Ali drove a shared tempo taxi and Hanifa sold vegetables.<ref name="scroll-2017" /> Residents of Kasamari, a predominantly Hindu village about 5 km away, told Scroll.in that cattle theft had become a serious problem, with more than ten animals reportedly stolen in the preceding two weeks.<ref name="scroll-2017" /> The Nagaon superintendent of police said the district had seen several cattle theft incidents.<ref name="quint-2017" /> == Incident == <!--T:12--> <!--T:13--> On the morning of Sunday, 30 April 2017, a Kasamari resident said he saw two men leading his bull across paddy fields and chased them, shouting that they were thieves. Residents then came from across the fields and attacked the two men; witnesses estimated the crowd at several hundred people.<ref name="scroll-2017" /> Police said the villagers chased the men for about 1.5 km into the Jajori police station area and beat them with sticks.<ref name="quint-2017" /><ref name="aljazeera-2017" /> <!--T:14--> Police reached the scene and took the two men to hospital, where they died of their injuries.<ref name="quint-2017" /><ref name="easternmirror-2017" /> Scroll.in reported that Ali died at Kasamari and Hanifa died on the way to Nagaon Civil Hospital.<ref name="scroll-2017" /> The ages of the victims were reported differently; according to Scroll.in, Hanifa's Aadhaar card indicated that he was still a minor.<ref name="scroll-2017" /> == Investigation and legal proceedings == <!--T:15--> <!--T:16--> Police registered a murder case after the victims' parents filed a complaint.<ref name="aljazeera-2017" /><ref name="quint-2017" /> Two people were taken into custody on 1 May, and their arrest was reported on 2 May. Superintendent of Police Debaraj Upadhyaya said the investigation would establish whether more people were involved and described the incident as one of mob fury that police would deal with strictly.<ref name="quint-2017" /><ref name="easternmirror-2017" /> The owners of the cattle filed a separate theft complaint at the same police station.<ref name="scroll-2017" /> No report of a chargesheet or trial outcome was found in the sources consulted. == Reactions == <!--T:17--> <!--T:18--> Relatives denied that the two men were involved in any crime and said they had been killed in cold blood; on 1 May people protested with the two bodies and demanded action.<ref name="easternmirror-2017" /> Neighbours told Scroll.in that neither man had any criminal case against him.<ref name="scroll-2017" /> Police rejected a link to vigilante groups: the superintendent told AFP that no vigilante group was involved, and the officer in charge of Nagaon Sadar police station called it "a simple case of theft" with no communal angle.<ref name="aljazeera-2017" /><ref name="scroll-2017" /> <!--T:19--> A Nagaon-based activist told Scroll.in that the killing might not be a typical case of cow vigilantism as seen in north India, but that its brutality could reflect a growing sense of impunity.<ref name="scroll-2017" /> The Quint described it as the first such death in Assam linked to the cases of cow vigilantism then being reported across the country.<ref name="quint-2017" /> </translate> == <translate><!--T:20--> References</translate> == <references> <ref name="scroll-2017">{{Cite news|url=https://scroll.in/article/836354/the-story-of-a-lynching-why-a-mob-murdered-two-suspected-cattle-thieves-in-cold-blood-in-assam|title=The story of a lynching: Why a mob killed two suspected cattle thieves in cold blood in Assam|publisher=Scroll.in|date=2017-05-03|author=Arunabh Saikia|access-date=2026-10-31}}</ref> <ref name="aljazeera-2017">{{Cite news|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/5/1/muslim-men-lynched-for-trying-to-steal-cows-in-assam|title=Muslim men lynched for 'trying to steal cows' in Assam|publisher=Al Jazeera|date=2017-05-01|access-date=2026-10-31}}</ref> <ref name="quint-2017">{{Cite news|url=https://www.thequint.com/news/india/suspected-cattle-thieves-lynched-in-assams-nagaon|title=Two Held After Suspected 'Cow Thieves' Lynched in Assam's Nagaon|publisher=The Quint|date=2017-05-01|access-date=2026-10-31}}</ref> <ref name="easternmirror-2017">{{Cite news|url=https://www.easternmirrornagaland.com/two-arrested-in-lynching-of-cow-thieves-in-assam|title=Two arrested in lynching of 'cow thieves' in Assam|publisher=Eastern Mirror (IANS)|date=2017-05-03|author=IANS|access-date=2026-10-31}}</ref> </references> {{Incident navbox}}