A mob in West Bengal’s Uttar Dinajpur district allegedly beat a police officer from Bihar to death during a probe into a theft case on Saturday, PTI reported.
Ashwini Kumar, the station house officer of the Kishanganj police station in Bihar, had come to Uttar Dinajpur in search of a gang of motorcycle thieves, according to The Indian Express. Eight policemen and two informers accompanied him.
Kumar and his team had found a stolen motorcycle near the home of a man named Firoz Alam in Pantapada village. While the officer was interrogating residents of the village, a crowd gathered at the spot and attacked his team, according to the newspaper.
The other police officers managed to escape, but Kumar stayed at the spot. The mob attacked him with stones and sticks, according to India Today. Alam and two other people were arrested in connection with the incident, the Indian Express reported.
The Bihar Police Association alleged that Kumar did not receive any support from the local police, according to India Today. The association said that the local police had promised to send a team after Kumar asked for their help.
A circle inspector and six police personnel were suspended for abandoning Kumar during the attack, said Kishanganj Superintendent of Police Kumar Ashish, reported Times of India.
Ashish alleged that the police in Uttar Dinajpur refused to help them because of election-related work, according to The Indian Express. “Had they helped us, our officer would have been saved,” he added. “What happened shows how the morale of criminals is high there.”
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