A man was lynched and the eyes of two other individuals were severely damaged over suspicion of cattle theft at Kadgama village under Shrinagar police station of Purnia district in Bihar on Thursday, said police.
Locals said that the three persons were inebriated and attempted to steal two buffaloes. But they were caught and were subsequently lynched by a mob.
“Soon after they were caught, villagers thrashed them mercilessly and one of them died while two others were seriously injured,” said a police official, adding, “we somehow managed to bring them to hospital.”
The deceased has been identified as Shyam Dev Yadav of Araria. “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.
A source from the hospital source said, “One of the injured may lose his eyesight as his eyes have been badly damaged. We are trying our best to restore his eyesight.”
The police say that they have begun identifying the people behind the incident. “We have identified the culprits and police will soon arrest them,” station house officer (SHO) Santosh Kumar Jha said.
In May 2019, a 50-year-old was beaten to death by a mob in Araria on suspicion of being a cattle thief. Before that in January a 55-year-old man was brutally beaten to death over suspicion of cattle theft.
Cattle theft rampant in Muslim-dominated Seemanchal
Cattle theft is rampant in four districts – Katihar, Araria, Kishanganj besides Purnia. A report recently prepared by the Kishanganj office of Border Security Force (BSF) said about 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.
Seemanchal is a Muslim-majority area where Owaisi’s AIMIM won all its five seats in the recently held Bihar elections.