KOHIMA: A 4,000-strong mob thrashed a 35-year-old alleged rapist to death after dragging him out of a high security jail in Nagaland’s Dimapur town on Thursday.

The slain, Syed Farid Khan, was suspected to be an illegal Bangladeshi migrant. He was paraded naked before he was beaten to death. Khan, a second-hand car dealer, had allegedly raped a 20-year-old Naga woman on February 23. He was arrested two days later and sent in judicial custody.

“A mob of around 4,000 people stormed the central jail after breaking two gates and took the accused out of the jail and paraded him naked to the city tower in the heart of Dimapur town before we could rescue him from the mob,” a news agency quoted district police chief Meren Jamir as saying. “The body was retrieved from the mob after police fired in the air to disperse them,” Jamir said.

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The mob torched at least 10 vehicles, forcing authorities to clamp curfew in Dimapur. District magistrate Wezope Kenye said police resorted to aerial firing and tear gas shelling to disperse the mob, but they managed to pull Khan out from jail. Sources said around 20 protesters were injured in the clashes.

The stone-throwing mob outnumbered police and burnt vehicles. The situation later went out of control when the mob started vandalizing shops belonging to non-Nagas. A news agency quoted unnamed sources said the accused belonged to Assam’s Karimganj district and was involved in other rapes.

An emergency cabinet meeting was held at the Nagaland CM’s residence to take stock of the situation. The cabinet condemned the lynching. The state government would institute a high-level committee which would inquire into the lapses on the part of any public servant.

Read this story in Hindi: रेप के आरोपी को भीड़ ने जेल से निकालकर मारा, लाश चौराहे पर टांगी

