India cuts internet access after mob killings

AUTHORITIES in north-eastern India have cut internet access after mobs beat three people to death in the latest cases of lynchings driven by false rumours spread on smartphones.

A string of killings has been blamed on incorrect claims about gangs of child kidnappers spreading quickly on Whatsapp, the smartphone messaging service, in recent months.

The victims are usually not locals, and people have also been beaten to death on suspicion of stealing cattle. “The administration has decided to cut off the internet and mobile messaging services for the next 48 hours… to stop rumour mongering,” said Smriti Ranjan Das, a police spokesman in the tribal-dominated state of Tripura.

The victims, one of whom had been employed by the authorities to warn people against hoaxes, died in three separate incidents on Thursday.

Locals in Sabroom, 80 miles from the state capital Agartala, attacked “rumour buster” Sukanta Chakraborty with sticks and bricks as he was warning people against fake information.

Earlier in West Tripura district south of Agartala, a nearly 1,000-strong mob attacked four traders, killing one and leaving the others critically injured.

Hours before in the same area, a crowd set upon an unidentified woman after she was spotted by residents walking around their village, police said.

Indian authorities regularly block internet or mobile services in volatile situations to avoid the spread of information that can stir up trouble.