NEW DELHI: Indian police said Monday they had arrested nearly two dozen people on charges including murder and rioting after a wave of lynchings in an eastern state that left eight dead.
Mobs in the largely tribal Jharkhand state set upon victims with sticks and fists over two days of violence as rumors spread on social media that a gang was kidnapping children, police said.
The brutality of the murders — captured potently in one viral image showing a bloodied man on his hands and knees begging for his life — has sparked outrage and allegations of police negligence.
Jharkhand has been on edge since the lynchings, just the latest in recent months across India, where mobs have publicly murdered people for inter-faith marriages and alleged offenses involving sacred cows.
Prashant Anand, police superintendent in the state’s main city of Jamshedpur, said locals in two neighboring districts attacked “any outsider irrespective of his community” after baseless rumors spread on WhatsApp and social media.
“We have so far arrested 20 people, five for lynching and 15 others for rioting or clashing with the authorities,” he told AFP.
Distraught relatives of the victims have clashed with authorities since the attacks last week, demanding a speedy investigation into the murders.
Local authorities have launched a public awareness campaign, distributing flyers to dispel rumors about the child kidnapping racket.
Police have been criticized for not responding quickly to dispel the misinformation, or to assure villagers about the safety of their children as fear took hold.
The National Human Rights Commission, India’s main rights watchdog, Monday said Jharkhand law enforcement agencies had failed to perform their duty.
“A civilized society cannot allow such heinous crimes to occur where human lives are taken by angry mob merely on suspicion of them being anti-social elements,” it said.
Child trafficking is a major problem in India, particularly in rural areas. Victims are sold off to work in factories or as beggars and prostitutes.
India’s indigenous tribes often suffer the worst rates of poverty, malnutrition, education and life expectancy.
Indian police make arrests after mobs lynch eight
Indian police make arrests after mobs lynch eight
Air India 777 aircraft turns back after drop in engine oil pressure, regulator says
- The aircraft, which was headed to Mumbai, landed safely back in Delhi and the incident will be investigated
- Air India has been under intense scrutiny this year after the June 12 crash of a Boeing Dreamliner killed 260 people
BENGALURU: An Air India Boeing 777 aircraft had to turn back after a drop in oil pressure forced the pilots to turn off one of the jet’s engines, India’s aviation regulator said on Monday.
The aircraft, which was headed to India’s financial capital of Mumbai, landed safely back in Delhi and the incident will be investigated, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a statement. Modern aircraft are designed to safely fly and land on a single engine, if required. Air India has been under intense scrutiny this year after the June 12 crash of a Boeing Dreamliner killed 260 people. The DGCA has flagged multiple safety lapses at the airline, which was previously owned by the government till 2022. An Air India investigation into why one of its planes conducted commercial flights without an airworthiness permit found “systemic failures,” with the airline admitting it needed to do better on compliance, Reuters reported earlier this month.
On Monday, pilots observed a low engine oil pressure on the B777-300ER aircraft’s right-hand engine during flaps retraction after take-off. The pressure shortly thereafter dropped to zero and the crew shut down the engine and turned back as per procedure, the DGCA said.
“Air India sincerely regrets inconvenience caused due to this unforeseen situation. The aircraft is undergoing the necessary checks,” an Air India spokesperson said in a statement. The aircraft is 15 years old and has flown to locations such as Vienna, Vancouver and Chicago, according to Flightradar24. Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the incident.
