27 held in Cachar truck driver lynching case

SILCHAR: As many as 27 people were arrested in connection with the lynching of a truck driver at Moinagarh under Barkhala block in Cachar district of Assam. SP (Cachar) Rajveer said while three were arrested on Thursday, the rest were rounded up on Friday from Moinagarh, a tea belt, 32-km from here.
ASP Subhashini Shankaran said all the accused were produced before a Silchar court during the day and sent to judicial custody.
On Wednesday, a speeding truck mowed down Badal Santhal (32), a worker, along the Silchar-Saurastra Mahasadak at Moinagarg. A mob rushed to the spot and lynched Sadid Ahmed Barbhuiyan (24), the truck driver. Later, they torched the truck and threw Sadid's body in the flames. “The accused have confessed to their crimes,” said the officer. Sadid hailed from Barband village in Algapur block of Hailakandi district.
The incident triggered communal tension in the areas. On Friday, severalminority organizations and NGOs called a Barak Valley and Hailakandi district bandh in protest against the killing and demanded immediate arrest of the miscreants and adequate compensation for the next kin of the driver. However, the bandh failed to evoke any response across the valley, except Hailakandi district.