Four runaway prisoners lynched in Meghalaya

SHILLONG: Four out of the five undertrial prisoners and a convict, who escaped from Meghlaya's Jowai Jail, were lynched by a mob at Shangpung in the West Jaintia Hills district on Sunday, police said.

Police officials said that mob of local people, mostly youths, armed with wooden sticks, badly thrashed the four prisoners, killing them on the spot.

The six undertrials, including I Love You Talang, escaped from the Jowai Jail after attacking and overpowering the jail guards late on Saturday evening and took shelter in a jungle.

On Sunday, the fugitives came out from their hideout and tried to procure food when people identified them and attacked them, a police official said.

One escapee named Ramesh Dkhar managed to flee from the mob fury and the sixth prisoner, convict Marsanki Tariang, was nowhere to be seen when the incident took place.

Among those beaten to death by the mob was I Love You Talang who, along with Dkhar, was arrested last month in connection with reported killing of two taxi drivers. The other lynched undertrials were Lodestar Tang, Shidorki Dkhar and Rikmenlang Lamare.

Meanwhile, a day after Ramesh Dkhar managed to escape the mob fury, he was arrested on Monday while Tariang, who was serving a jail term after having been convicted under the POCSO Act, was still untraced, police said.

Police said that Dkhar was spotted in the Shangpung Thadmuthlong area by some people who informed them and a police team rushed to the spot to take him away to prevent any new untoward incident.

Meghalaya Home Minister Lahkmen Rymbui on Monday told the ongoing session of the Assembly that the Government has set up two probe panels to investigate the Jowai jailbreak and subsequent lynching of four of the fugitives. (IANS)

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