Meghalaya govt: 5,000 people involved in lynching of four escaped prisoners

Meghalaya government stated on Monday that a mob, of at least 5,000 people, was involved in the killing of three undertrial prisoners and a convict hours after they fled from jail in West Jaintia Hills district on Sunday.

Meghalaya home minister Lahkmen Rymbui, making his statement about the incident, informed the state Assembly on Monday that the government had already instituted two inquiry committees to separately investigate the jailbreak and the subsequent lynching of four prisoners.

Rymbui (spelling mismatch) said five persons, including the head of Jowai central jail C Kynjing, were arrested for their alleged negligence leading to the jailbreak.

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The minister, however, did not reveal any details about the legal actions to be taken against those involved in the lynching incident on Sunday.

The jailbreak happened around 2 am on Sunday after five undertrial prisoners and a convict allegedly attacked the Jowai central jail staff. The police immediately launched a manhunt for the six. However, a video shared on social media on Sunday afternoon showed a mob attacking four of the escaped jailed ones—three undertrials and the convict—with sticks and iron rods resulting in their deaths. According to the police, Shangpung village residents got angry after they identified one of them as a suspect in a murder case.

The villagers managed to catch four of them and attacked, leading to their deaths. Two others are still absconding.