Child-Lifting rumours: Army and police rescues 3 'sadhus' from lynching by mob in Assam after locals mistake them as child lifters

Amid concern over mob killing over WhatsApp rumours, after Maharashtra's Dhule, now three men were about to be lynched by the mob. Army and police personnel rescued three sadhus from being lynched by a crazy mob in Assam suspecting them to be child lifters. The incident reportedly took place at Assam's Mahur Railway Station in Dima Hasao district.

Three others were rescued by the police 29 km away, at Haflong. The police said villagers attacked the men because rumours of "child-lifters" in the area were doing the rounds on WhatsApp. According to District officials, Army men posted at an adjacent camp and police officers came to the rescue of three persons yesterday after hundreds of people had gathered to attack them in the wake of rumours of child-lifting.

The mob threw the belongings of the 'sadhus', videographed and shared on social media, further fuelling the hearsays, the officials said. According to NDTV report, the sadhus from the Uttar Pradesh aged between 26 and 31 years - had just arrived in Mahur, around 250 km from state capital Guwahati, when their car was targeted. A mob stopped the vehicle, dragged them out and an argument started.

As soon as the crowd grew, some locals fearing the situation called in the local army unit. The soldiers reached the spot within minutes and rescued one of the priests. The other two, who had managed to escape, was caught by locals about half-a-kilometre away and handed over to the army. The priests were taken to the army camp for questioning and then turned over to the police.

The WhatsApp rumours on child-lifters have reportedly killed more than 20 people in mob lynching in different parts of the country.