Sonalal Murmu’s house in Dhullu village. (Express Photo by Prashant Pandey)
Villagers angry about frequent cattle thefts, a chance identification of missing cattle by a relative of a pradhan, and unsubstantiated allegations of one of the alleged thieves brandishing a firearm — all combined to result in the lynching of two persons by a mob in Deodand police station area of Jharkhand’s Godda district Wednesday.
Murtaza Ansari (25) and Chiraguddin alias Charku Ansari (42) were caught by villagers for allegedly stealing buffaloes and beaten to death in Bankatti village. While Murtaza’s family claimed they did not how he ended up with Charku, the latter’s family claimed he was “just on business” and killed on false charges.
Kisku Mistry, a resident of Dhullu village and a neighbour of Sonalal Murmu, the pradhan of Dhullu village, said: “Sonalal had taken his buffaloes to pasture early in the morning. He fell asleep there. When he woke up, he found them missing. His relative Kaleshwar Soren, a resident of Bankatti village, called him up on mobile saying the villagers had caught two people with 13 buffaloes and that he knew they belonged to him (Sonalal). They then went to the village, about 4 km away. In the meantime, word spread and villagers gathered.”
Sonalal’s brother Munshi Murmu has been arrested. Sonalal was said to have gone to Godda and his house was locked, the buffaloes allegedly recovered from the thieves tied up inside.
At Bankatti village, women in Santhali basti said the mob had caught the two persons and took them towards Dhullu. “We saw buffaloes being taken away by three people. We questioned them. Kaleshwar came and identified the buffaloes,” said Mary Tudu. “Sonalal was called from Dhullu. In the meantime, villagers from Budhikura, Deodand and Pindra panchayats gathered as the word had spread. The third man managed to escape. When we tried to confront the other two, one took out a pistol and threatened us. We got angry and four-five of us chased and caught them. We handed the two to Sonalal and others, who took them back to Dhullu. We don’t know what happened after that.” Kaleshwar, too, has been arrested.
At Banjhi, Murtaza’s father Halim Ansari said they were stunned. “My son used to buy and sell goats and poultry. On Wednesday, Murtaza told me he was going to ‘collect maal (goat)’ to sell in Ramgarh market. He did not tell me which village he was going to. Around 8.30 am, we got news that he was being beaten up. We called the police. By the time they reached, the crowd had killed him.”
Halim used to drive a bullock cart and is retired. His elder son is a labourer in Dumka. Asked how Murtaza knew Charku, his father said, “I have not seen that man. My son never mentioned him.” Charku’s family, too, said they did not know Murtaza. “We guess he was a business associate. He never spoke to us about him. We only knew that he traded in cattle,” said Mohammad Islam, Charku’s brother, who works in Meerut as a mason.
The police said that Charku was chargesheeted in two cases of cattle theft in 2009 and 2010. “In both cases, he was caught red-handed. He was a listed criminal in Deodand police station area,” said a police officer. Islam claimed that the cases against Charku, father of nine children, were closed. Asked whether the family warned Charku, given recent incidents of lynching in Jharkhand, Islam said: “Why would we? He was only into trade. Many others in our village do it.”
Keeping goats, bullocks, cows, chicken and rearing them is a common occupation in these villages of Santhal Pargana. However, the villagers recounted cattle going missing with alarming regularity.
“Agriculture is not viable as water is scarce. The produce from cattle like milk is used domestically, and if there is surplus, we sell in the market. Each buffalo can fetch Rs 25,000-50,000. Goats can fetch up to Rs 10,000. We work hard to rear them. But thieves take them away. No wonder the villagers got angry,” said Ketka Sah of Dhullu village.
“It is easy for them (thieves). They can operate at night and keep firearms in case they get caught. They have nothing to invest and everything to gain,” said Haldar Mandal, a Bankatti resident.
Police officials said that milk-giving animals fetch better prices in the market; while non-milk-giving animals are still sold as farm animals. “Any way, they would find a buyer. People generally do not report thefts. This emboldens the thieves. But sometimes they get caught. In this case, the villagers took law into their hands,” said Inspector Anil Kumar Chowdhary, Circle Inspector of Poraiyahat.
Asked about the firearm allegedly used by Charku, Chowdhary said: “We have not found any evidence.” Four people have been arrested and further investigation is on.