Indian police arrest lynching suspects

NEW DELHI — Police in western India said Monday that they have arrested 23 people suspected of taking part in the weekend lynching of five men suspected of being members of a gang of child kidnappers, as deadly mob attacks fueled by social media rumors continue around the country.

Police officer M. Ramkumar said five men were bludgeoned to death Sunday in a remote, mountainous village in Maharashtra state. Villagers pounced on the men when one of them tried to speak to a child at a weekly market, Ramkumar said. “The mob was merciless,” he said.

Ramkumar said police formed five teams to nab the culprits, and had so far arrested 23 of 40 people accused of participating in the mob violence.

He said that for days the village had been abuzz with rumors spread through WhatsApp that a gang of child kidnappers was roaming there.

In a separate incident, police said they rescued five family members, including a 2-year-old child, when a mob of thousands attacked them on the suspicion of being child abductors in a town, also in Maharashtra state, early Monday.

India has seen a string of mob attacks in the past few months ignited by messages circulated through social media. At least 20 people have been killed in such brutal attacks since early May, and dozens more have been injured.