Assam Lynching: Even The State’s Police Commissioner Is A Victim Of Cyber Crime

Two young tourists were lynched by locals on the suspicion of being child-lifters

By: News Desk |
June 12, 2018 12:20 pm

Days after two young men were lynched on Friday night by a mob in Assam’s Karbi Anglong district, following rumours on the social media that they were child-lifters, it has emerged that even the Assam Commissioner of Police is not insulated from the cyber attack.

According to a report in the Guwahati Plus, some unknown user has created a fake Facebook profile in the name of Assam Commissioner of Police, Hiren Chandra Nath.

“This is a fake Facebook account in the name of Hiren Chandra Nath, IPS Commissioner of Police, Guwahati. He doesn’t use any social media except WhatsApp,” Assam Police CPRO has said in a statement.

Screenshot of the fake profile | Courtesy: Guwahati Plus

The report also said the fake account has 10 friends, out of which eight friends share the same name.

Meanwhile, as many as 16 people were arrested in connection with the lynching of two men on Sunday, while a senior police officer was given charge to keep a vigil on rumours in social media, a PTI report said.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal held a high-level meeting to review the situation and asked Director General of Police Kuladhar Saikia to prevent spread of rumours and take action against troublemakers.

The state government has also ordered a magisterial enquiry to find out if there were any lapses on the part of the police following reports that a “policeman” was seen recording video clips of the incident.

Representational Image | Source: Indian Express

Nilotpal Das and Abhijeet Nath had gone to a picnic spot in Kangthilangso in Karbi Anglong district on Friday and while returning at night their vehicle was stopped at Panjuri by a group of villagers who lynched them on the suspicion of being childlifters.

Das (29) was a sound engineer and came to Assam from Goa recently on a vacation along with his friend Nath (30), a businessman. They had gone to Karbi Anglong to visit some scenic spots.

In a video of the incident circulated on social media, the two men can be heard begging for their lives and trying to explain to the livid crowd that they were innocent but to no avail.

After the police reached the spot, the two seriously injured men were rushed to a hospital but they died on the way.

(With PTI inputs)