Authorities in a north-eastern Indian city yesterday said they had imposed a round-the-clock curfew, a day after a rape suspect alleged to be a Bangladeshi national was pulled out of jail and lynched by a mob while another was killed in the subsequent police firing.
Thirty-five-year-old Syed Farid Khan, who stood accused of raping a woman multiple times and was arrested in late February, was dragged out of the prison in Dimapur city in Nagaland state before being beaten to death and strung up to a clock tower on Thursday.
The alleged rapist was a small-time trader who dealt in scrap and used motor cars, the Indian Express website reported.
According to reports, despite section 144 being imposed in Dimapur since Wednesday evening, the Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) and other local groups called a rally on Thursday to protest against the alleged rape.
In the afternoon, a mob rushed to the jail, broke open the gates by overpowering the security personnel on duty.
Farid was stripped, tied up and dragged to the City Clock Tower area seven kilometres away – being kicked and pelted with stones along the way.
“A 25-year-old youth suspected to be part of the mob was injured in the police firing and later passed away at the hospital,” Jamir said.
Nagaland Chief Minister TR Zeliang said the suspect was a Bangladeshi immigrant, and Dimapur Superintendent of Police Meren Jamir said his killing had been followed by attacks on Bangladeshi-owned businesses, reports AFP.
His nationality has not been established for certain. The Hindustan Times website described Farid as a migrant Muslim from Assam, suspected of being a Bangladeshi national.
Tensions had been rising in the district since February 24 when police arrested the alleged rapist over the assault of a 19-year-old tribal woman, a student of a local women’s college.
Jamir said the situation was “very tense,” but the police were trying to “restore order,” with hundreds of riot police personnel patrolling the streets.
The state has been in the grip of an agitation over the issue of illegal immigrants for the past two weeks.
Nagaland’s indigenous tribal groups have for years accused the growing population of Bangla-speaking Muslims from nearby Bangladesh of illegally settling on their land and eating into their resources, AFP reports.
Chief Minister Zeliang, who is in New Delhi, called up senior ministers and officers, following which a government statement was issued asking people to show restraint.
“Many ugly, objectionable pictures are already on social media, but the traditional media has been requested to be more sensitive and apply self-censorship to help mitigate possible ramifications,” the appeal said.
