Internet access has been cut in north eastern India after three people were beaten to death by mobs in the latest violence triggered by false rumours on social media.

Messages on WhatsApp saying gangs of child kidnappers are at large have sparked a number of attacks on innocent people in the last few months.

Police spokesman Smriti Ranjan Das said: "The administration has decided to cut off the internet and mobile messaging services for next 48 hours to stop rumour mongering."

One of the victims was employed by authorities to warn people against hoaxes.

People in Sabroom, 80 miles from state capital Agartala, attacked "rumour buster" Sukanta Chakraborty with sticks and bricks as he was warning people on a megaphone against fake information.


Police said it was unclear what sparked the attack.

Spokesman Mr Das said the man died at the scene and his driver was injured in a frenzied attack that lasted almost an hour.

He said: "It was a sudden and vicious attack and they didn't get time to escape. Our teams reached on the spot and could only rescue the driver."

Hours earlier in West Tripura district south of Agartala, a mob of almost 1,000 people attacked four traders from northern Uttar Pradesh state, killing one and leaving the others critically injured.

The four took refuge inside a paramilitary camp after hundreds of people believing them to be child kidnappers chased their vehicle after they stopped for a tea break on a road.

Image: Satish Bhaykre, 21, was beaten by a mob

However, the mob entered the base and dragged all four from the car, attacking them with sticks and rods as soldiers tried to break up the crowd by firing warning shots.

Mr Das named the victim as Zahir Khan. A soldier was also critically injured.

Hours before that incident, in the same area, a mob set upon an unidentified woman after she was spotted by residents walking around their village.

Police said the woman in her 40s was beaten with batons and dragged across the village as tribal residents chanted "death to child lifters".

Police are questioning a number of suspects but no arrests have been made.

Meanwhile, Shantadevi Nath was killed earlier this week when about 100 people attack her and three other women in Ahmedabad, a city in the state of Gujarat.

And a 21-year-old man, Satish Bhaykre, was attacked by a mob on the outskirts of Nagur.

Image: India has billions of mobile phone users

Alerts have been issued warning the public not to pay attention to the fake messages and Mr Chakraborty was one of dozens of "rumour busters" sent out by the authorities in Tripura.

India has more than a billion mobile phone users, the largest anywhere in the world, with an estimated 478 million mobile phone internet users.

The violence comes after increasing concern about the consequences of fake news on Facebook and other platforms.