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| India-Pakistan |
| Mob beats, burns alive robbers on run |
| 2010-04-08 |
| Malda, April 7: Two of a three-member armed gang who had robbed a businessman outside a bank in Gajole were beaten up and thrown into the fire to be burnt alive till police rescued them and took them to hospital where they died. The third member of the gang is fighting for life at Malda District Hospital, 35km from Gajole where an attempt was made to rob Pradip Karmakar a little after noon today. The police alleged the gang was waiting outside the State Bank of India's Gajole branch. When Karmakar, a rice merchant who lives in Nayapara, withdrew Rs 8 lakh and came out of the bank on the Gajole-Balurghat state highway around 12.30pm, the trio hit him with the butt of a pistol, snatched the bag containing the cash and tried to escape in a motorcycle. Karmakar, with his head bleeding, screamed for help. “The bank is located on the first floor of a two-storied building with the electricity office on the ground floor. Hearing his screams for help a number of people rushed out of the building and gave chase to the three who were on motorcycle,' said a police officer. Soon people of the locality joined them and the motorcycle was stopped before it had covered a few metres. Nearly 1,000 people pounced on the three. The bag with the cash was recovered and the mob started beating up the three. As the news spread, more people joined. A section of them also set fire to the motorcycle. With the three almost unconscious by then, the residents tied them up and threw them into the burning motorcycle. The mob also assaulted a local journalist who tried to stop them. The police first arrived at 1pm, half an hour after the robbery. But seeing the mob, they called for reinforcements which arrived in 20 minutes. The cops baton charged the crowd and took the three to hospital, where 28-year-old Hafizul Sheikh and 30-year-old Pintu Sheikh, both residents of Jadupur in Kaliachak, died. Miraj Sheikh, the third member of the gang from Jalapur, told the police in hospital that he had no inkling of the other two's intentions. “Hafizul and Pintu had told Miraj to meet them in front of the bank where he would be given money,' said a police officer. The police officer also said according to Miraj, it was a six-member gang that was operating in front of the bank and that sensing trouble the other three had melted into the crowd. Bhuban Mondal, the superintendent of police of Malda, said Karmakar is under treatment at Gajole hospital. “He was given five stitches on the head,' Mondal said. According to the district police chief, a 9mm pistol loaded with cartridges was recovered from the spot. The police have filed two cases, one of attempt to rob and the other of mass assault and attempt to murder. |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #2 Frontier justice--Northwest Frontier, that is. |
| Posted by: Mike 2010-04-08 21:32 |
| #1 ...the other three had melted into the crowd. Poor choice of words, considering... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2010-04-08 16:42 |