Kolkata
The Kazipara area in West Bengal’s Barasat has remained tense after the corpse of an 11-year-old was found inside a neighbour’s bathroom last Thursday. After a preliminary autopsy suggested that the boy was strangled to death, rumours of child theft did the rounds across the locality. Unidentified people were considered suspects in the case, with protests degenerating into vigilantism.
Locals took the law into their own hands and roughed up ‘suspects’ in broad daylight sans proof. Police reached the area but they were stopped from intervening by the local vigilantes. Three people, including a woman, were injured in the violence that ensued. The injured woman was attacked as she was boarding an auto with her child. A police car was also vandalised during this fracas.
Barasat Superintendent of Police Pratiksha Jharkhariya said at a press briefing on Wednesday, “There is no incident of child abduction in Barasat. Please do not listen to any rumours.”
Ms. Jharkhariya also said that the rumours were being spread on social media platforms, especially Facebook, that the alleged kidnapping of children in the Barasat area was part of an organ theft racket.
Ms. Jharkhariya said, “We have arrested six individuals in connection with this case. Three people who were injured are now at the Barasat hospital.” She assured that she has received other video evidence of the violence and that more arrests would soon follow.
The police in the Barasat and Madhyamgram area have been running a public awareness program for the last three days asking people to reject rumour mongering and stave off any potential violence. The police added that they had taken one individual into custody in connection with the death of the 11-year-old boy.
Published - June 20, 2024 01:26 am IST
