Cooch Behar mob fury over ‘cattle-lifting’

Jalpaiguri: A police stati-on inspector in charge and three civic volunteers were injured after being roughed up by villagers at Chhatarampur in Cooch Behar early on Friday.
One Atul Roy was passing the area with a cow when villagers stopped him and began thrashing him on suspicion of being a cattle-lifter. When police tried to rescue him, the villagers accused them of a nexus with cattle smugglers and attacked them.
Tufanganj PS IC Soumalya Aich, who rushed to the spot to rescue the cops, was also allegedly beaten up. Three mediapersons were injured and their cellphones were snatched. “Cattle lifting has been on the rise in the area. This prompted the villagers to take the law into their hands,” said Basanta Roy, a resident.