Army, police rescue 3 'sadhus' suspected of child lifting, from mob lynching

Haflong (Assam): Army and police personnel have rescued three 'sadhus' from getting lynched by a mob, which suspected them to be child-lifters, at Mahur Railway Station in Dima Hasao district of Assam, officials said today. 

District officials said Army men posted at an adjacent camp and police officers came to the rescue of three people on Thursday after hundreds of people had gathered to attack them in the wake of rumours of child-lifting.

The belongings of the 'sadhus' were thrown open by the mob, videographed and shared on social media, further fuelling the hearsays, the officials said. 

Following the incident, the district administration, under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner Amitabh Rajkhowa and Superintendent of Police Prasanta Saikia, called for an emergency meeting on Thursday. Representatives of different communities who attended the meeting, appealed to the public, especially the people of Dima Hasao, to act responsibly and not be swayed away by rumours on social media. They also urged the people to not take law into their own hands, and instead, report to the authorities about any suspicious movement of any person. 

In the last few weeks, there have been several attempts by the district administration to make people aware about news circulating on social media without any base or authenticity, the officials said. 

In a similar incident on June 8, two friends, who had gone to a picnic spot in Karbi Anglong, were stopped on their way back by a group of villagers and lynched on the suspicion of being child-lifters.