Director General of Police (DGP) Kamal Nayan Choubey on Wednesday chaired a special meeting with all the top police officials of the State through video conferencing and asked them to expedite investigation in the mob lynching cases reported here so far.
The meeting was called in accordance with a directive of the Supreme Court. Taking cognizance of the rising cases of mob lynching in the country, the apex court had asked all the States to hold one review meeting on mob lynching cases in every three month.
“Investigation in all the cases of mob lynching should be expedited. The culprits should be nabbed and sent for trial at the earliest,” Choubey said.
According to figures with the State police, at least 51 people have been convicted in four cases of mob lynching reported in Jharkhand so far. As many as 39 cases of mob lynching have been reported in Jharkhand, say police records.
The DGP on Wednesday also asked the Superintendents of Police in all the 24 districts to identify the areas which are more prone to incidents of mob lynching and run full-fledged awareness campaigns. He also directed all the concerned police officials to take necessary measures to prevent such incidents. “Use television, radio and other mediums of communication to spread awareness against mob lynching,” he said.
The police officials concerned should hold one review meeting on the cases of mob lynching in their district every month and closely monitor all the developments, Choubey said. Following the directions of the apex court, the State has appointed special nodal officers in each district for monitoring of mob lynching cases. “We will hold our review meetings on all such cases once in every three months. All the officials at the district level have been instructed to address cases of mob lynching on a priority basis,” Choubey said.
Since Tabrez Ansari’s alleged lynching in Saraikela on June 17, the State has witnessed at least five cases of mob lynching. On July 21, at least four elderly members of the tribal community, including a couple, were dragged out of their houses and beaten to death by an enraged mob on charges of practicing witchcraft in the interiors of Gumla district. On August 1, a 40-year-old man was beaten to death by villagers in Dumka’s Chihutiya village on charges of theft.
Chief Minister Raghubar Das recently asserted that those involved in mob lynching incidents will not be spared and the Government will take strict actions against such offenders.
The history of lynching incidents in Jharkhand is also evident in the large number of cases wherein women were murdered on charges of practicing witchcraft. Jharkhand has been on top when it comes to the number of people killed for practising witchcraft for four consecutive years between 2013 and 2016, in India, according to data available with the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).