Another person has been arrested in connection with the lynching of two men on suspicion of being child lifters in Assam, taking the total number of arrested people to 24.

The person was arrested from Karbi Anglong district during search operations, which were continuing along with investigations, an Assam Police spokesman said on Tuesday.

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Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Mukesh Agarwal was monitoring the investigations.

Besides the 24 in custody, five others were arrested from Diphu town on Tuesday for misuse of social media in connection with the incident.

“They have been found to be involved either in recording the incident on mobile phones or circulating the video clip on social media with statements, comments to incite hatred between different communities,” the spokesman said.

The crackdown on the misuse of social media was launched by the police as investigations have brought to light that messages posted on social media on child lifters having entered the state from outside, may have led to the lynching of the two men.

The police have issued an advisory asking people to help prevent spread of rumours on social media.

On June 8, two men from Guwahati were lynched by unidentified people in Assam’s Karbi Anglong district on the suspicion that they were child lifters.

Nilotpal Das (29), a sound engineer based in Mumbai, and his friend Abhijeet Nath (30), a businessman, had gone to the picnic spot Kangthilangso in Karbi Anglong late Friday night to capture the sounds of nature, police said.

The incident took place in the backdrop of a rumour on social media that a group of ‘sopadhara’ (meaning child abductor or lifter in Assamese) were on the prowl in Nagaland’s Dimapur town and some of its adjoining areas in the district. Karbi Anglong shares a border with Nagaland on the east.

On their way back from the picnic spot, the duo was stopped by some villagers at Panjuri. They were pulled out of the car and mercilessly beaten to death suspicion of being child lifters.

Both Das and Nath, according to a video circulated on social media, pleaded that they were not child lifters, but were Assamese visiting Karbi Anglong district.

After the police reached the spot, the two seriously injured men were rushed to a hospital but they died on the way. Their bodies were cremated on June 9.

Don’t politicise the issue: Parents

Parents of Nilotpal — Gopal Chandra Das and Radhika Das — have appealed to the people not to give credence to rumours. They also urged the people not to politicise the issue.

“We are grateful to all for extending their support to us in this hour of grief but we appeal to all to maintain peace and calm,” they said in a statement issued here.

They have also appealed to the government to ensure that no more lives were lost due to superstitious beliefs and to create awareness in each village of the state by involving all parties, organisations, students’ unions and others.