Mob justice? Two alleged thieves beaten, paraded naked in Goa

Panaji: In a shocking case of vigilante justice, two men in their mid-twenties were roughed up, dragged and paraded naked by a mob after locals suspected they were thieves, police said on Monday. [caption id=“attachment_1552743” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Mobile phone footage.[/caption] The incident took place on 21 May near the famous Cab de Ram Fort, 80 km south of Panaji, but came to light after visuals of the episode emerged on local TV channels, prompting Goa Police to begin a crackdown on the assaulters. Both the unidentified men, who have been untraceable since the incident, were seen being beaten up, tied with a rope and dragged on the road by a mob of more than 30 people. Police claimed that they have taken cognisance of the visuals that emerged on channels, and the process to identify the culprits has started. “One person who headed the entire mob attack has been arrested while more will be nabbed due course of time,” Police Inspector Ram Asre told PTI. He said the video footage aired on local channels have been procured by police to identify those involved in the brutal attack. According to sources, the trouble started when villagers around Cab de Ram locality suspected that these youths were involved in mobile theft cases. They were called by villagers under a false pretext of enquiring about a theft and were taken to isolated spot and beaten up. The footage was clicked by one person in the mob, who later uploaded it on a social networking website. PTI