2021 Khowai mob lynching
| Date | 20 June 2021 |
|---|---|
| Location | North Maharanipur and Mungiakami |
| District | Khowai |
| State | Tripura |
| Coordinates | 23.8500°N 91.7482°E View on OpenStreetMap |
| Victims |
|
| Killed | 3 |
| Injured | 0 |
| Alleged trigger | Cattle theft |
| Allegation | Villagers suspected the men of stealing cattle they were transporting in a mini-truck |
| Legal status | Investigation under way in 2021; as of April 2022 the victims' families said they did not know the status of the case |
The 2021 Khowai mob lynching took place in the early hours of 20 June 2021 in Khowai district, Tripura, when villagers stopped a mini-truck carrying cattle and beat to death three men from Sonamura subdivision of Sepahijala district on suspicion of cattle theft.[1][2] The body of a 16-year-old who had gone missing after the incident was recovered in July 2021.[3]
Incident
At about 4:30 am on Sunday, 20 June 2021, residents of Namanjoypara spotted a mini-truck carrying five cattle heading towards Agartala. They chased the vehicle and stopped it near North Maharanipur village in the Kalyanpur rural development block, about 46 km from Agartala, and attacked its occupants. Two men died at the spot. A third ran away but was caught by villagers at Mungiakami, a nearby tribal hamlet, and beaten to death.[2][1][4]
Police reached both places and took the men to the Mungiakami primary health centre and then to Agartala Government Medical College and GB Pant Hospital, where doctors declared them dead on arrival. They were identified as Jayed Hossain, 30, Billal Miah, 28, and Saiful Islam, 18, all from Sonamura subdivision. Jayed Hossain's mother said he had left home the previous day with Billal Miah and that she did not know where they were going.[2][1]
Investigation and legal proceedings
Sub-divisional police officer Sona Charan Jamatia of Teliamura said police had learned that the three men had stolen cattle from an area in Khowai district. Police registered a case of mob lynching against unknown persons at Kalyanpur police station and a cattle theft case at Champahour police station. No arrests had been made in the days immediately after the killings.[1][4]
On 3 July 2021 police recovered the decomposed body of Selim Mia, a 16-year-old from the Bardowal area of Sonamura who had gone missing after the 20 June incident, from a forest at Shubharam Para in North Maharanipur. Khowai Superintendent of Police Kiran Kumar said the body was found on the basis of a statement by an arrested accused; two men had been arrested by then, and police said questioning had revealed that the boy had been killed and buried.[3]
In October 2021 Justice S. G. Chattopadhyay of the Tripura High Court refused pre-arrest bail to a man accused of being part of the mob that chased and killed Saiful Islam, who had been booked under sections 341 (wrongful restraint) and 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code. The man argued that he was not named in the first information report; the court cited eyewitness statements recorded during the investigation and the gravity of the offence.[5]
In April 2022 the victims' families told EastMojo that they had jointly filed a petition in court but did not know its status, that they had not received compensation despite a written appeal to the district magistrate, and that they planned to approach the Tripura High Court. Police did not comment publicly on the progress of the cases.[6] No later reporting on a chargesheet or trial was found.
Reactions
Major political parties in Tripura condemned the killings. Leader of the Opposition Manik Sarkar of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) called them "inhuman, against law and against civilization" and said that if the men were accused of theft they should have been handed over to police. Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Subrata Chakraborty said the law should take its course and people should not take the law into their own hands. State Congress president Pijush Kanti Biswas demanded Rs 10 lakh in compensation for each victim's family.[4]
Pradyot Kishore Debbarma, chief of the Tipra Motha (TIPRA), wrote on Twitter that a public killing was unacceptable whatever the alleged crime and that, if the men were guilty, police and not a mob should have arrested them.[4] The CPI(M) legislator for Sonamura, Shyamal Chakraborty, also said that suspected cattle lifters should have been handed over to police.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Tanmoy Chakraborty. "Tripura: Villagers Kill Three Men on Suspicion of Cattle Theft". The Wire. 21 June 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Chandan Panday. "Three lynched in Tripura over allegations of cattle smuggling". EastMojo. 20 June 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chandan Panday. "Tripura mob lynching: Decomposed body of missing minor recovered". EastMojo. 4 July 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 PTI. "Tripura parties condemn mob lynching of 3 on suspicion of cattle theft". EastMojo (PTI). 22 June 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2026.
- ↑ Scroll Staff. "No pre-arrest bail for man accused of lynching a Muslim in Tripura, says High Court". Scroll.in. 13 October 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2026.
- ↑ Mrinal Kanti Banik. "Tripura: Families of mob lynching victims and their tiny hope for justice". EastMojo. 29 April 2022. Retrieved 31 October 2026.