No communal angle to the incident, say police

Three persons were killed in the Sonarpur gram panchayat area of Uttar Dinajpur district’s Chopra block in West Bengal, for alleged cattle theft.

Sources claimed that the incident took place late on Thursday night when a group of about 10 men entered the area with the intention of allegedly stealing cattle and were caught by locals.

The Superintendent of Police, Uttar Dinajpur, Amitkumar Bharat Rathod, confirmed to The Hindu thatthree men were killed.

“While the rest fled, the villagers caught three of them and beat them to death. No one has been arrested in the case so far,” Mr. Rathod said. He added that raids were being conducted in the area to nab the accused.

However, the day and timing of the incident is still unclear.

The three killed were identified as Md. Nasirul Haque (30), Md. Samiruddin, (32) and Md. Nasir (33). According to police, the three had previous criminal records. Mr. Haque’s mother Mamtaj Biwi lodged a complaint in this regard.

A murder case has been registered. However, Mr. Rathod said that “there is no communal angle to the incident. It is only a case of theft.”