A man was lynched and the eyes of two others were seriously injured on Thursday in Kadgama village under Shrinagar police station in the Purnia district of Bihar on suspicion of cattle stealing, police said.
The dead man was identified as Shyam Dev Yadav of Araria, the police said.
Locals said the three intoxicated individuals were found attempting to rob two of the buffaloes that contributed to the lynching. “Villagers thrashed them mercilessly soon after they were caught and one of them died while two others were seriously injured,” said a police officer, adding, “we managed to bring them to the hospital somehow.”
“Eyes of one person Manoj Yadav of Purnia have been badly damaged while the third Kailash Sah of Araria is also injured. The two are undergoing treatment at Purnia sadar hospital,” said the police official.
“One of the injured may lose his eyesight as his eyes have been badly damaged,” a hospital source said. In order to regain his eyesight, we are doing our hardest.
The police say they have begun to locate the persons behind the attack. Santosh Kumar Jha, station house officer (SHO), said, “We have identified the culprits and the police will soon arrest them.”
In May2019, a 50-year-old was beaten to death on suspicion of being a cattle thief by a mob in Araria.
In four districts, Katihar, Araria, Kishanganj, as well as Purnia, cattle stealing is rampant. The Kishanganj Border Protection Force (BSF) Office recently prepared a report saying that one lakh cattle were either smuggled to Bangladesh or sold to hundreds of slaughterhouses in Seemanchal.
“Seemanchal people’s economy largely lies on cattle rearing and agriculture and they become furious over cattle theft,” said social activist Vijay Kumar Shreevasatava. He suggested ‘better arrangements for slaughterhouses’ and checking cattle smuggling.
