A man from Uttar Pradesh was lynched on Thursday in Tripura by a mob who suspected him to be a child lifter. Four others, including a policeman, were injured in the same incident which happened in Urabari area in western Tripura.

The slain man, who has been identified as 30-year-old Jahir Khureshi, and three of the injured were mobile vendors who had arrived as the tribal dominated village to sell garments.

According to reports, a mob of around 300-400 villagers chased the men and dragged them out even after they had taken shelter in a security camp.

While security personnel tried to save the three men, one was seriously injured. All the victims were shifted to a hospital in Agartala where Khureshi succumbed to his injuries.

Additional reinforcements of Tripura State Rifles and Central Reserve Police Force were rushed to the spot, 35 km north of Agartala to control the situation.

The security personnel used lathis and tear gas. Tension prevailed in the area where an 11-year-old boy had been brutally killed by two suspected minors on Tuesday.

Despite appeals by Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb and Director General of Police Akhil Kumar Sukhla, mob violence and attacks on innocent people continues unabated since Wednesday.

Police said some youths attacked a middle-aged woman at Jogendra Nagar railway station on Wednesday night.

“When the woman with her two children arrived at the railway station, a group of people suspecting her to be a child trafficker thrashed her before she was rescued by police. While the woman was admitted to a hospital, her kids were sheltered in a government-run home,” a police official said.

He said two government employees were also seriously injured when a group of people attacked them at Manu Bazar in southern Tripura on Thursday. The area is 130 km south of here.

Similar incidents of people being beaten, harassed and attacked by mobs have been reported from Amarpur (in southern Tripura), Bishalgarh, Arundhuti Nagar, Bodhjungnagar and Khowai (in Western Tripura) besides in capital Agartala.

Meanwhile, the Director General of Police on Thursday asked all mobile and Internet service providers to prohibit the services for 48 hours from Thursday afternoon to prevent the spread of rumours.

(With inputs from agencies.)