Man making appeals to people against rumour-mongering lynched

A man hired by the Tripura Information and Culture department to spread awareness against rumour-mongering was among two persons lynched in different areas of the state on the suspicion of being child-lifters, the police said today.

Sukanta Chakrabarty (33) was lynched by a mob suspecting him of being a child-lifter at Kalachhara in South Tripura district last night, Assistant Inspector General of Police Smriti Ranjan Das said.

Chakrabarty was a member of a team of the state Information and Culture Affairs department which was campaigning against rumour-mongering. He was hired by the department for making appeals to the people not to fall prey to rumour-mongering.

Chakrabarty was attacked when the team was returning to Sabroom, Das said.

In view of the lynching incidents, Tripura Director General of Police A K Shukla has suspended SMS and Internet data services in the entire state for the next 24 hours to prevent rumour-mongering.

Chief Minister Biplab Deb today appealed to the people to maintain peace and said there was no child-lifter in the state.

He alleged that it was a conspiracy of the CPI(M) to tarnish the image of the state government.

An unidentified woman was lynched and another injured when she along with four men was moving in a vehicle at Bishalgarh in Sipahijala district yesterday.

In a separate incident, a hawker was lynched and two others were injured after a mob attacked them on the suspicion of being child-lifters at Murabari in West Tripura district yesterday.

BJP state vice-president Pratima Bhowmik and Education Minister Ratanlal Nath in a joint press conference said they have alerted party workers to thwart any such incident and cooperate with the police.