Agartala: An elected Panchayat member of the Shanmura area of Agartala has been accused of instigating a mob to torture a woman in public for allegedly stealing money from a local shop on Monday.
Police launched an investigation into the incident based on the media report and social media footage; however, nobody has been arrested yet.
According to the report, a local Panchayat member, Shuklal Das, had summoned the victim lady and her son to a kangaroo court after they were accused of theft. When the woman and her minor son appeared, they were stripped and beaten by a mob led by the accused person.
The police later rescued the woman and her son and admitted them to the Agartala Govt. Medical College hospital with multiple injuries.
Police recorded the statement of the victim, and based on this, an investigation was launched to track down the gang involved in the crime, but it yielded no result.
The victim told police that her son and two other minors had stolen money from a shop to buy alcohol. The locals had caught them and released two of them later, but they asked the woman and her son to appear before the kangaroo court in front of Panchayat member Das.
"I had agreed to return the stolen money, but the mob, which was intoxicated, attacked my son and shaved his head. When I protested, they stripped me in public, beat me, and attempted to kill me and my son. Somehow the police got to know about the incident and rescued us from the mob, but nobody has been arrested yet," the victim stated.
Meanwhile, Secretariat sources said Chief Minister Manik Saha took exception to the incident and asked the police chief to book everyone involved in the crime without any other consideration and handle them with an iron hand to send a message to society – no one should make any such attempt in the future. (UNI)