GUWAHATI: Call for strict action against those who lynched two teenagers in Assam’s Nagaon district.

Activists and people in general have demanded action so that such activities cannot reoccur in the state. Earlier, on Sunday, a mob or suspected cow vigilantes chased down Reaz Uddin (18) and Abu Hanif (16) before lynching them alleging them to steal cows.

“Two persons killed in Assam for stealing cow. Who is indulging such kind of acts? In one hand you are saying Gau Rakshaks are criminal and on the other hand you are not taking actions against these criminals and allowing them to kill people. Double standard!” wrote Bondita Acharya, a rights activist on her Facebook.

Acharya who was threatened by right wing activists for voicing her support for beef, said that though this incident is not straightway associated with the ‘Gau-Rakshak’, the scenario is advancing in the that line.

“A similar environment is being created across the country,” Acharya told The Citizen.

Nagaon Superintendent of Police Debaraj Upadhaya said police have already arrested two persons after registering a case.

“Our investigation is on to ascertain their involvement in the crime and also to find out if there are more involved in the crime. Our probe is on. We have carried out the post mortem on the bodies and handed over the bodies to the families. It’s an incident of mob fury and we are going to deal with the situation strictly,” Upadhaya was quoted as saying by IANS.

Hafiz Ahmed, present of Char Chapori Sahitya Parishad (CCSP) expressed his shock at the incident and termed it a bad omen for the days to come.

“This is inhuman to kill two persons by hundreds of mob. I can’t even imagine such incidents in Assam that people can be killed for stealing cows. From where this kind of tendency has come? This is high time for all of us to be more careful so that the situation does not deteriorate,” said Ahmed.

Guwahati based journalist Trideep Lahkar said that it’s high time for law and order enforcing agencies and society at large to be on alert and initiate action so that such actions do not become more organized.

Reaz Uddin’s father Rohom Ali said that he worked as a part-time driver and used to sell vegetables.

“They went for fishing but midway they were nabbed and beaten to death with the allegation that they were cow thieves. My son is innocent,” said Ali at Naramari village. A villager elder told reporters that even if these two boys were guilty that no one believes, they should have been handed over to the police for justice.

“How do we live like this if mobs take the law into their own hand and justify killing people,” said the old man.

Fazlul Moral, who belong to nearby of Kachomari village where the incident took place did not think that this was related to cow vigilantism. “There have been several cow stealing incidents in recent days. I think this is a case of mob fury,” Moral told The Citizen.