Two killed in mob attack in Garo Hills

TURA: A mob attack on three men caught by villagers and labelled as members of a dacoit gang that has been perpetrating a series of midnight break-ins in villages, has resulted in the death of two persons while a third is battling for his life on Friday in the plains belt of West Garo Hills.
There are conflicting reports about the incident with villagers on one side branding the three men as criminals, while, on the other, reports mention two of them to be engaged in the lucrative arecanut trade.
They were travelling in a blue Alto car when they were stopped by villagers after they entered Chanangpara village, 20 kms from Phulbari town, sometime after midnight on Thursday.
This is the peak season for the harvest of the arecanut plantations and dozens of traders visit villages to purchase the raw produce in bulk from plantation owners which they later process into supari or dried betelnuts that are packaged and sold for a very lucrative price in Assam and mainland India.
Villagers claim to have found daos (daggers) and alcohol inside the vehicle used by the three men and suspecting them to be members of the gang that has been raiding homes in different villages in the past few weeks, the three were taken captive.
It is not known if the men identified as Mokibul Islam (35) of Pushkarnipara village in Chibinang, Bita Rabha (34) and Mikseng Marak (24), both hailing from Dawagittimgre locality of Williamnagar town in East Garo Hills, had lost their way while passing through so late in the night and carried a dagger for self defense or they had other ulterior motives.
They were bound and held in the house of the village Nokma the entire night and when dawn broke the news of their capture had spread like wildfire leading to the gathering of several hundred villagers.
Instead of waiting for police to arrive, the mob dragged out the three suspects and began attacking them.
The vehicle that was used by the three men was also set ablaze in the village.
On being informed of the unfolding events in the village, police from Phulbari rushed to the village but by then the mob had already barged in and begun their attack on the trio.
Police teams managed to rush the three badly injured and unconscious persons to Phulbari hospital where doctors declared Mokibul Islam brought dead. The other grievously injured Mikseng Marak also succumbed to his injuries soon after.
The lone survivor was Bita Rabha who has been brought under police guard to Tura civil hospital in a critical condition for further medical treatment.
“We are investigating the incident and trying to ascertain if they are part of a dacoit gang. One of the deceased, Mokibul was earlier arrested in a case of abduction for ransom,” informed West Garo Hills superintendent of Police MGR Kumar, who is camping in the area.
Additional forces have been deployed in the sensitive areas as preventive measures and the sub-divisional police officer of Raksamgre has been stationed at Phulbari for further supervision.
Villagers from Chanangpara believe that the three were part of a gang involved in a recent dacoity at nearby Rongchandalgre village where an arecanut farmer and his family were attacked at midnight by dao and rod wielding criminals who also took away sixty thousand rupees from their home.
Dacoity cases have also taken place in as many as four Roman Catholic Churches in different parts of Garo Hills, the most recent being the Dominic Savio Church in Garobadha where an armed gang assaulted a priest and an assistant and robbed cash.