Punjab's drug menace: Mob lynches suspected dealer by chopping off his hand, foot

Bathinda: A lynch mob chopped off the hand and foot of a young man whom they accused of drug peddling in a Punjab village, causing his death, police said on Friday. [caption id=“attachment_3507393” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AFP[/caption] The macabre incident occurred at Bhagi Wander village in Talwandi Sabo sub-division of Bathinda district on Thursday when Vinod Kumar, 30, was mercilessly beaten up and his hand and foot severed with sharp-edged weapons. “He was facing some cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and had come out of jail only 3-4 days back,” Talwandi Sabo’s Station House Officer, Inspector Jagdish Kumar said. TV channels showed blurred videos of Kumar, soaked in blood, lying on the ground. Nobody was seen coming to his rescue. He was shifted to the Civil Hospital at Talwandi Sabo from where he was referred to a hospital in Faridkot. The man died from injuries he suffered a few hours later. Police are also going through some mobile phone videos of Kumar being attacked. Some villagers told reporters there was anger as police did not take action against Kumar despite their complaint that he was supplying drugs to the youths. The villagers claimed when they were going to meet the Deputy Superintendent of Police concerned of the area over why no action was being taken, Kumar confronted them on the way, which led to heated arguments. The gruesome attack followed. Vinod’s family has alleged that he was kidnapped by another youth of the village when he was going to lodge a complaint about his stolen scooter and was then attacked by several people. They rejected the allegation that he was engaged in dealing drugs. Drug addiction has assumed alarming proportions in the prosperous state, and was a hotly debated subject during the assembly elections held earlier this year.