Assam police have arrested 12 people in connection to the horrific mob lynching incident that took place in Sivsagar district recently.
One of the arrestees is a juvenile, sources said.
The identities of the arrested individuals are – Dipankar Karmakar, Jairam Mandal, Babu Duttaku, Tarkeshwar Das, Tiku Gowala, Abhijit Mirdha, Sunil Biswas, Raju Malakar Manjhi, Piku Karmakar, Jonu Karmakar, and Montu Gowala.
All of them have been remanded to judicial custody for three days, except for the minor, who was sent to a juvenile home.
The case pertains to the death of 27-year-old Palu Gowala, who was subjected to brutal thrashing on suspicions of stealing a mobile handset. He later succumbed to his injuries.
Reports suggest that the Gowala and one of his companion had broken into a residence and lifted a mobile handset. After they were caught, the locals gathered around and took matters into their own hands. They repeatedly thrashed the duo resulting in the death of one, while leaving the other wounded.
The incident occurred at the Phukan Nagar locality of Sivasagar town. They were rushed to a nearby medical facility where the doctors declared one of them dead.
Gowala was a resident of Ward 10 of Phukan Nagar.
Meanwhile, the other victim of the thrashing, Dadu Orang, was admitted with injuries sustained in the beating. "Their mobile phone went missing and they suspected us of the theft. We did not even see who did it, yet they continued to thrash us," he said.
A member of Orang's family said that she was told by the robbed family that the two had entered their home and lifted the mobile phone. "When the police came, I also followed them. They told me that the two had entered their home and taken the mobile phone," she said.
Additionally, she let out some of the names involved in the lynching incident. She said, "When I asked them who was involved, they gave me some names. One of them is named Bogoli, another goes by Tiku, while a third named Tarakeswar was involved in beating them."
