Villagers lynch four 'criminals' in Rohtas district

Sasaram: Four suspected criminals were beaten to death by the villagers at Kowath under the Dawath police station area of Rohtas district on Tuesday morning. One passerby Niranjan Chaudhary was injured in the firing.
Sources said eight members of the gang opened indiscriminate fire outside the cloth shop of Arun Chaudhary at the village market. As there was heavy rush for purchasing articles for Chhath festival, the villagers chased the criminals and caught four and lynched them.The deceased were yet to be identified.
This is the second incident of mob lynching in the district after June 29 when two Mahadalit brothers were beaten to death by the villagers while they allegedly tried to sneak into a house at Parasiya under the Kochas police station area.
Rohtas SP Manavjeet Singh Dhillon said the four succumbed to their injuries in the local primary health centre (PHC). Police seized one motorcycle, one pistol and four live cartridges from the spot. Dhillon said on a complaint filed by Arun, a named FIR was lodged against Laxman Pandey and Govind Pandey of Jigana for demanding Rs20 lakh extortion from the businessman. Arun, who is the husband of district board member Rinki Chaudhary, was provided with an armed police guard. The named accused were on bail in murder and other cases, the SP said.