Mobile internet and SMS services were restored in Tripura on Sunday, three days after they were suspended to curb rumours of child-lifting allegedly being spread on social media.
Inspector General of Police KV Srejeesh said internet and mobiles services were restored on Sunday evening after the situation in the state improved, PTI reported. He said no fresh cases of mob violence or rumours of child-lifting were reported in the state on Monday.
Three people, including a man hired by the Tripura government to spread awareness against rumour-mongering, were lynched by mobs in the state last week. On Thursday, a mob lynched Sukanta Chakraborty, who was a member of a team of the state Information and Culture Affairs department campaigning against rumour-mongering, at Kalachhara in South Tripura district on the suspicion that he was a child lifter.
“This was plain murder in front of so many people,” Debabrata Chakraborty, Sukanta’s elder brother, told The Indian Express. “An announcer for a noble cause, hired by the authorities, was lynched to death. What can I say? He left behind his wife and a five-month-old baby boy.”
The brother added, “He was to be paid Rs 500 for a day’s engagement as an announcer. The government should now ensure that my brother’s killers are punished, and that his wife and child get compensation for their sustenance.”
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