21 from Dimapur lynch mob held; 4,000 Bengali Muslims leave Nagaland, BJP MLA terms lynching as revolution

The police in Nagaland’s Dimapur town have arrested 21 people since Saturday night in connection with the lynching of rape accused Syed Farid Khan last Thursday. The district administration imposed total curfew until Sunday midnight and mobile and internet services were jammed for 48 hours to check the spread of hate messages.

“We scanned the (arrested) people through video footage and the uploaded photographs taken between storming of Dimapur central jail and the display of Khan’s body. For the time being, we have arrested 21 people who we found were the ringleaders,” a senior police officer said on condition of anonymity. More arrests were expected, he said, adding a few non-Nagas were also part of the mob.

Meanwhile, around 4,000 Bengali Muslims from 1,000 families left the state fearing attacks against Muslims though none of them were threatened or harassed, the Muslim Council of Dimapur said.

Khan’s body was laid to rest at his native Bosla village in south Assam’s Karimganj district amid tight security on Sunday morning. Leaders of various political parties in the district, including local MLA Siddeque Ahmed, were present during the burial.

The border area between Assam and Nagaland has been tense since Saturday night after a gunfight between Assam Police and Naga militants in Sivasagar district of Assam.

The Nagaland police were tight-lipped on medical reports of the college student who had accused Khan of raping her. On Saturday, Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi had quoted unconfirmed reports to assert the girl was not raped.

Khan’s younger brother Suberuddin has alleged that the girl and “her accomplices” had framed Khan alias Sarifuddin for refusing to pay `2 lakh they had demanded from him

BJP MLA:

Calling it the beginning of a “samajik kranti (social revolution)”, BJP MLA Usha Thakur on Sunday said she saw nothing wrong in the lynching of the rape accused in Dimapur. She also announced the launch of a signature campaign to bring a new law with a provision of public hanging for those who rape minors.