DC, SP suspended over lynching of seven persons in Jharkhand

Ranchi: The Jharkhand government has suspended Seraikela-Kharsawa district`s Deputy Commissioner (DC) and Superintendent of Police (SP) in connection with the lynching of seven people over child abduction rumours, said an official on Friday.

"The Chief Minister has ordered suspension of Seraikela DC Ramesh Ghopal and SP Rakesh Bansal with immediate effect," said a state government press release.

The action has been taken based on the report submitted by a two-member committee, the official said.

The Jharkhand government had constituted a two-member committee headed by Kolhan Commissioner and Deputy Inspector General of Police over killing of seven people in Seraikela and Jamshedpur districts over the last two months over the rumours of "bachcha chor" or child kidnappers.

In the last two months, irate village mobs have attacked individuals on the suspicion of being child abductors, in which several persons lost their lives, while many others sustained serious injuries.

Two separate incidents in Rajnagar block of Seraikela-Kharsawa district and Bagbera Police Station area of East Singhbhum district claimed the lives of seven persons suspected of being child kidnappers.

According to sources in the government, the Seraikela DC and SP did not act on time, which caused spread of rumours in neighbouring Jamshedpur, which resulted in the death of three more people.

In Rajnagar, four people were beaten to death and three people were lynched in Bagbera of Jamshedpur. Anti-social elements had spread rumours of kidnapping through Whatsapp groups.