Man suspected to be burnt alive by villagers in Assam's Nagaon, was accused of murder

A man from Assam’s Nagaon district met a grisly end after a mob of angry villagers allegedly burnt him alive.

5 accused – Podumi Bordoloi, Putuli Bordoloi, Ratneswar Bordoloi, and Bharati Bordoloi – have been nabbed by police in this case.

Ranjit Bordoloi from Bor Lalung Gaon (situated about 17 km away from Nagaon town) became the latest victim of mob justice in Assam as he was allegedly burnt alive on suspicion of committing a murder.

The villagers set Bordoloi ablaze after convening a meeting to decide the course of punishment against him as he had allegedly been involved in the murder of a local woman Sabita Patar. According to a local, Patar was a newlywed bride who was initially thought to have died after falling into a pond.

However, two days ago, a woman named Bharati Bordoloi alleged that Patar was murdered by five individuals from the village.

“Ranjit Bordoloi was accused of strangulating the deceased. Villagers convened a meet during which Bordoloi admitted to killing the woman. The enraged mob attacked him and burned him alive,” the local added.

It is believed that Bordoloi’s body has been buried by the villagers and police are trying to trace it. No arrest has been made till now.

In the last few years, Assam has witnessed several incidents of mob killing. In March this year, a man was burnt alive by a group of agitated tea garden workers after he had allegedly killed a five-year-old boy at Dholajan Tea Estate under a police outpost in Dibrugarh district. In 2019, a senior doctor of the Teok Tea Estate hospital in the Jorhat district was lynched by a mob for his alleged delay in treating a tea garden worker. In 2018, two young men were lynched at death in Karbi Anglong’s Dokmoka. Locals suspected them to be child-lifters.

According to sources, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has instructed the district administration to investigate the matter and bring the guilty to the book.