Kaushik Purkait was lynched over allegedly stealing a buffalo in Diamond Harbour near Kolkata.
Highlights
- A 23-year-old student was lynched for allegedly stealing a buffalo.
- A local leader of Trinamool allegedly led the mob that attacked him.
- Today, an angry mob set the Trinamool leader's house on fire.
Violence continued in Diamond Harbour, a well-known picnic zone near Kolkata, a day after a 23-year-old student was lynched there on suspicion of stealing a buffalo. The villagers went on a rampage today, their anger directed against a local leader of the ruling Trinamool Congress, who had allegedly led the mob that attacked the young man.
As the body of Kaushik Purkait was brought to his village for last rites today, villagers went to the house of Tapas Mullick. Not finding him home, they vandalised the house and set it on fire.
The police, which rushed to the spot, later arrested four persons and named 10 others in the First Information Report. A manhunt is on for the rest.
Kaushik was visiting some relatives when angry villagers thought he had stolen the buffalo that had gone missing a few days ago.
His family alleged that they had rushed to his rescue as soon as they heard about the attack. But the mob, they said, would not let Kaushik go even though he was in urgent need of medical attention.
He was released only after the family promised to pay Rs 60,000 to the villager - the price of the buffalo.
He was then rushed to a local hospital and later taken to SSKM Hospital in Kolkata, where he died.