Vadodara/Surat: On the night that a man was lynched by a mob with two others beaten, Vadodara city police were trying to ensure that people did not fall prey to rumours about burglars on the prowl waiting to strike at their homes. There were many who stayed awake or patrolled their neighbourhoods after receiving messages advising people to "stay vigilant because burglar gangs were on the prowl". While the city may have witnessed these rumours about prowling burglar gangs only this week, innocents have been falling prey to violence due to such rumours since last month.
A foreign student at Parul University was assaulted by villagers near Waghodiya. The student, who is from Papua New Guinea , registered a case regarding the incident. In neighbouring Bharuch district, a couple of similar incidents were reported.
One was at Ayodhyanagar Society in Bharuch town where five sadhus in saffron were beaten on suspicion that they were a gang of burglars. Police later clarified that they were sadhus from Mathura Ashram and were in Bharuch on missionary work. Recently, four employees of the mining department were beaten up in Netrang on suspicion of being burglars.
A police complaint regarding the incident was filed. Bharuch police have been facing challenges for the last couple of months convincing people to disregard these rumours about gangs of thieves. These rumours have been swirling on social media with such intensity that police had to hold meetings with sarpanches and other leader.
