Five men allegedly beat a vegetable vendor to death in Assam’s Kamrup district on Sunday, after his bicycle hit their car, Northeast Now reported on Monday. The police arrested two main accused – Faizul Ali and Eyusuf Uddin Ahmed. Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) GP Singh confirmed the arrests on Monday. The other accused are absconding.

The police said that Sanatan Deka was riding his cycle when it accidentally hit a car belonging to a man identified as Faizul Ali. “After this, Faizul and his friend Lajlil Ali got down from the car and an argument ensued between them and Sanatan,” a police officer said. “After a while, they were joined by three other men and five of them started beating him.”

The police said the injured Deka was taken to a hospital in Hajo, but was declared brought dead. Deka, a resident of Teteliya village of the area, was a factory worker who had recently lost his job due to the nationwide lockdown imposed to control the spread of the coronavirus.

Faizul Ali is the brother of a local Asom Gana Parishad leader, according to Northeast Now.

Recent cases of mob lynching

On April 22, two brothers who had recently been released from prison in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak were beaten to death in Assam’s Baksa district. The incident, which took place in Athiabari village, may have taken place due to “village enmity”, a senior district official told Scroll.in.

On May 11, villagers in Dumka district of Jharkhand beat a man to death and critically injured his companion, accusing them of stealing a goat.

In February, the West Bengal Police booked five people in Malda district for lynching a farmer because his seven-year-old son damaged a mobile phone.