In a bizarre case which reflects growing intolerance within the society, 10 thieves were caught red-handed and beaten to death in the wee hours of Thursday in Vaishali district. One of their accomplices, who somehow escaped from the clutches of the mob, is battling for life in a city hospital.
The incident took place when the thieves, 11 in number, raided Dhelpurva village. Some of the ‘vigilant’ inhabitants were awake, as robbery incidents had increased since the last several months.
As soon as the thieves struck at around 3 am, the villagers raised an alarm. Soon a mob of more than 200 people assembled there, gave the miscreant a hot chase and roughed them up mercilessly after they were nabbed.
The ten thieves succumbed to their injuries, while the eleventh one was rushed to Sadar Hospital in Hajipur.
Later Vaishali superintendent of police Anupama Nilekar and other senior officials rushed to the place. The bodies were sent for post-mortem.
Intolerant society
Expressing his dismay over such incidents which have increased over the last few weeks, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said, “The law has not given anyone, or a group of persons, to mete out this kind of justice. It’s a matter of concern, and everyone should ponder why there is a growing intolerance in the society.”
Similar sentiments were echoed by Home Commissioner Afzal Amanullah, who asked the IG concerned to investigate how and why the Vaishali mob took law into its hand when the Rajapakad police station was barely 1.5 kilometres from the incident site.
One too many
Vaishali incident is the fifth case in recent times when the miscreant have been meted out ‘instant justice’ by the irate crowd. In August last, a chain- snatcher in Bhagalpur was reported to have been beaten up black and blue by the mob and then dragged on a motorbike by a police constable. The two policemen involved in the incident were dismissed from service."
In a similar incident, security guards of Barauni Thermal Power Plant shot dead two thieves when they were trying to steal wire last Sunday.
Early this week, an irate mob gouged out an eye of a motorcycle-snatcher in Nawada. In the same district, two children were beaten up and paraded on the streets with their heads tonsured after they were found to have stolen a few packs of detergents from a local trader’s shop.
