In yet another bizarre case which reflects growing intolerance within the society, a murder accused Ravi Kumar was pulled out from police custody by an irate mob, stoned and thrashed mercilessly in Vaishali – the land of Buddha. The incident took place near Hajipur on Saturday.

As the police remained a mute spectator to the mob fury, the Vaishali SP Paras Nath was quick to suspend the officer-in-charge of Hajipur police station and five other cops for dereliction in duty. Kumar was rushed to Sadar Hospital before being shifted to Patna Medical College and Hospital in a critical condition where he is said to be battling for life.

The incident took place when Ravi allegedly stabbed his friend Om Prakash, who was accused of stealing a mobile phone. On hearing the death of Om Prakash, the mob became furious, dragged Kumar from the police custody and roughed him up mercilessly. The SP said the accused sustained grievous head injuries as he was beaten with bricks.

In a similar incident of street justice, ten thieves were caught red-handed and beaten to death in September last year in Vaishali. Though CM Nitish Kumar had expressed his dismay and ordered an inquiry into the murky episode, the guilty, till date, are still at large.

Saturday’s incident is the sixth case in recent times when miscreants have been meted out ‘instant justice’ by the irate crowd. In a similar incident, security guards of Barauni thermal power plant shot dead two thieves when they were trying to steal wire in September 2007. In the same month, an irate mob gouged out an eye of a motorcycle-snatcher in Nawada, Bihar. 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.