A suspected thief died at a medical clinic in the Bhangar area of Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district on Sunday, hours after he was allegedly beaten by local residents. The victim, identified as Asgar Molla, was reportedly a known drug addict with a history of theft in the local marketplace, according to police sources.
“Local people claimed that Molla had been caught red-handed stealing several times in the past at the same marketplace where the incident occurred early on Sunday morning,” said a police officer on the condition of anonymity. “The body has been sent for postmortem and an investigation is underway. The family of the deceased had not lodged any complaint by Sunday afternoon, and no arrests have been made so far. Footages from security cameras installed at the market have been collected.”
District Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and legislator Saokat Molla stated, “Police will take appropriate action.”
This incident is part of a troubling pattern of kangaroo trials and lynching across Bengal, which have raised significant concerns for the state government. Since June 22, eight people, including Sunday’s victim, have died in such incidents.
One of the most recent victims was Bachcha Tudu, a tribal woman who died from critical injuries at a hospital in Siliguri, North Bengal, on July 4. She had been declared a witch and assaulted by her husband’s relatives, who blamed her for his natural death in early June.
In another incident on June 30, a 23-year-old man was allegedly beaten to death over theft suspicions in Tarakeswar, Hooghly district. Similar instances were reported in Kolkata on June 28, Salt Lake on June 29, and Jhargram district on June 22.
Sources By Agencies
