Mobocracy

Mob assaults duo near murder spot
A STAFF REPORTER
Two suspected snatchers said to be fleeing on a motorcycle were severely beaten up on Wednesday near the spot where Rajib Das was stabbed by a group of louts while he was trying to save his sister two days ago.

To cover the 500 metres from Barasat police station to Wednesday’s crime scene, the police took half an hour according to local people and 10 minutes according to the district police chief.

Asked why cops took 10 minutes to travel half a kilometre, a senior officer said: “It takes time to bring the jeep out.”

He had no answer when asked why the force needed a car to travel half a kilometre during an emergency when they could have walked to the spot faster.

Jayanta Baul and Dilip Das had been beaten up badly by the time the police reached them around 12.30pm.

When some people suggested that the duo be handed over to the police, the mob retorted: “We don’t trust them.”

Officers admitted that the tendency to deliver “instant justice” taking advantage of police inaction elsewhere could prove dangerous.

At Barasat hospital, Das’s condition was said to be critical. Baul is stable, said a doctor.

“Their motorcycle got stuck in a traffic jam and a mob chasing them, screaming ‘thief thief’, caught up with them and dragged them down,” said a witness, Haradhan Biswas.

A gold chain they were accused of snatching from a woman at Hridaypur minutes ago was apparently found in Baul’s trouser pocket.

The place where the duo were assaulted is around 300 metres from the spot where Rajib was attacked on Monday night and about 500 metres from Barasat police station.

“Some of us pleaded with the mob that they be handed over to the police but the majority did not want that,” said local resident Asit Das.

According to many like Das and Biswas, the police reached about 30 minutes after the assault began.

“We rushed to the spot as soon as we got to know about the incident and rescued the duo from the mob,” said Rahul Srivastava, the superintendent of police, who has been asked to explain the police’s alleged laxity in connection with Rajib’s death.

I had just this morning mentioned that when the police do not do their duty, the mob will take it upon themselves to mete out justice which may not be to the liking of the genteel folk.
Remember the French Revolution and recently the Iranian and Tunisian Revolution.
Echoes of these are being felt all across the Arab world where dictators have been ruling for the last two or three decades.
Fortunately in India we have the power to change our government by voting but we do have the choice of choosing our representatives for all the candidates are just plain rotten thieves and murderers and good people will not stand because these politicians have made the whole arena a cesspool of corruption.