Two men freed a week ago following the Supreme Court’s directive to decongest jails were killed in western Assam’s Baksa district during a scuffle with villagers they allegedly used to torment.
The incident in Athiabari village happened on Wednesday morning.
Police said brothers Biswajit and Haradhan Das were sent to jail in an adjoining district two months ago for a series of criminal activities, including banditry, murder and extortion. They were released according to the apex court’s directive before their trial could start.
“They were staying at the place of a relative in another village after their release, but locals said they went back to their old ways. They reached their own village today [on Wednesday] morning and ran into a group of angry villagers,” Thube Prateek Vijay Kumar, Baksa Superintendent of Police, told The Hindu.
The brothers were killed in the scuffle that ensued, he added.
The police have arrested two persons involved in the killing. A few more have been identified, they said.