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Ranchi: Jharkhand, which is infamous for mob lynching incidents over cattle transportation or beef-eating suspicion, is now witnessing lynching incidents over child-lifting rumours on daily basis.
Leave aside the common people, police not sporting uniform, are also being termed as child-lifters and are being attacked.
On Wednesday, September 4, at least five cases of mob lynching took place in Jharkhand. All the incidents were triggered by rumours of child-lifting. These incidents have caused the death of one individual while many have sustained serious injuries.
On Tuesday night, villagers at Gandakey, Ramgarh, beat one unidentified man mercilessly terming him as a child-lifter. He was later taken to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Ranchi, for treatment, where he succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday.
According to Ramgarh police, they have arrested five people and registered FIR against 50 to 60 villagers.
Ramgarh, a neighbouring district of Jharkhand’s state capital Ranchi, is the place where Alimuddin Ansari, was lynched to death for allegedly transporting beef in 2017.
At Bokaro’s Jarangdih village, police too have been attacked on being mistaken as child-lifters. Police, on the instruction of Superintendent of Police, in casual dress, had gone to arrest two men accused of coal theft —Tinku Pandit and Sandeep Singh from Jarangdih. But, while arresting the two, the policemen were attacked after being alleged as child-lifters by the supporters of the two accused. Police service revolver was also snatched, leading to the escape of the coal thieves.
Eleven criminals were sentenced for life term by the Ramgarh session court for killing Alimuddin, but later they got bail from High Court, and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jayant Sinha had not just welcomed the criminals but had also garlanded them. The garlanding of murders by Sinha was termed as an encouragement to such criminals by social activists, and it seems like that it has served the purpose, as the residents of Ramgarh are not restraining from taking law into their hands.
In Ramgarh itself, on Wednesday, in Chikor village which falls under Bhurkunda block, one Dhaneshwar Ganjhu (32) was beaten under suspicion of being a child-lifter. Ganjhu, who was drunk, had knocked a door and immediately collapsed in front of the door. Later, villagers gathered and started beating him, alleging that he is a child-lifter. He was tied to an electric pole and thrashed by villagers. He is undergoing treatment now.
Again at Tala village, Chanho, Ranchi, three people were handed over to police who had been caught on suspicion of being child-lifters on Wednesday. Thanks to a few alert villagers, who interfered, the gathered mob could not hurt the victims.
Similarly, on Tuesday, under Jainagar police station, at least six people had been lynched by the villagers. The allegations were the same. Three tribal youth while going to visit the sister of one of the boys, stopped at Pratapur to ask the route. Mistaken as child-lifters, the trio was being beaten. When three passers by stopped and questioned the mob as to why they were beating them, they were also attacked and branded as the partners of the tribal boys.
And when the police was taking the injured youth for treatment, the mob pulled down tribals from the ambulance and attacked them again.
Koderma Superintendent of Police M Tamil Banan said that two cases have been registered in the case where six people had been lynched – one for the attack and a separate FIR for obstructing government sanctioned work.
A week back, in Giridih, a woman who was consoling a child, on her mother’s request at a bank, was beaten after being mistaken as a child-lifter.
In past 7 days, news reports suggest that more than 44 people become victims of such rumours.
Jharkhand DGP, K N Chaubey claims to have alerted on-field officers to take swift action.
“I have told police officers to arrest as many accused as possible in such cases,” told the DGP.
The DGP also claimed that police is holding meetings with people and cautioning them against mob violence, but it needs the society’s contribution to control it.
