Prime accused, who made phone call about child abductors, held

Police in Assam have arrested a 30-year-old man alleged to be the prime accused in the lynching of two men, who were killed last week on suspicion of being “child lifters” in Karbi Anglong district, a senior official said on Wednesday.

“He is the prime instigator of the incident. It is he who made that phone call to the villagers spreading the rumour of the presence of two child lifters,” director general of police (DGP) Kuladhar Saikia said.

Alphajoz Timung was apprehended on Tuesday night after being on the run for a few days since the lynching.

“He was on the run on his motorbike within a geographical area of 20 square kilometres. We managed to track him down through the three cell phones he was carrying,” a senior police official said.

Nilotpal Das, a Goa-based sound engineer, and Guwahatibased businessman Abhijeet Das were on their way to a popular waterfall in Kangthilangso on June 8 when they were lynched by approximately 250 locals in Panjari Kachari village on suspicion of being “child lifters”.

Police have so far arrested 28 people for their alleged role in the killings, ADGP Mukesh Agarwal said.

Timung, according to an investigator, was the person who interacted with Das and Nath, close to the waterfall in Kangthilangso village before they were attacked. The resident of Kangthilangso also allegedly called another villager in Panjuri Kachari, saying child lifters travelling in a black Scorpio will soon pass through the village and they should be stopped.

“Most of the people in the custody have said the attack was a result of the phone call made by Timung,” a police official said.

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