Express News Service By

JEYPORE: Four persons were allegedly lynched at Balia village under Jeypore sadar police station limits on suspicion of being ‘organ traffickers’. Their mutilated bodies were found lying scattered on Jeypore-Boiapariguda road in the wee hours on Thursday.

According to preliminary reports, the four were on their way to Nuaput village in their vehicle at 1 am when when about 100 villagers, suspecting their activities, detained their vehicle. When they tried to escape, the villagers chased them suspecting them to be members of an ‘organ trafficking’ gang. The four tried to flee from the spot leaving behind their vehicle. But the villagers chased them down and beat them to death. They also torched their vehicle.

The villagers then dragged their bodies towards the nearby bridge road.

Meanwhile, another group of villagers of Nuaput attacked one more person suspecting him to be the member of the same gang. On receiving information, police rushed to the village and rescued the victim. The villagers detained the unarmed policemen for two hours. The victim’s bike was also set ablaze.

Additional police force rushed to the spot and admitted the injured to Jeypore hospital.

The mayhem continued in nearby Palakaput village, 3 km from Nuaput, where the villagers torched a jeep in which there were two persons, also suspecting them to be ‘organ traffickers.’ They even detained four passersby. Police rescued the two persons from the clutches of the villagers in the wee hours.

As soon as the news spread in the morning, senior police officials, led by Korpaut SP C S Meena, rushed to the spot. As villagers of Balia, Nuaput and Palakaput were suspected to be involved in the incident, police detained 25 persons. Police sources said that over 100 villagers are involved in the crime.

Meanwhile, the four bodies were sent to Koraput for autopsy. Police recovered Madhya Pradesh driving licence from the deceased and are investigating their identities.