Boy’s Decomposed Body Found Days After Villagers Hanged Friends For Alleged Theft

Police in the Indian state of Tripura arrested three men after the decomposed body of a missing 16-year-old boy was recovered Sunday — over two weeks after the teen and his friends were allegedly attacked by the men and several villagers on suspicion of stealing cattle.

The boy, identified as Bardowal village resident Selim Miah, was found buried deep in a forest located in north Maharanipur, newspaper The Times of India reported, citing Khowai police superintendent Kiran Kumar.

Police arrested Ripon Debbarma, Ranjit Debbarma and Deendayal Kumar Debbarma in connection to the deaths of Miah and his three friends, Saiful Islam, 18, Billal Mia, 28, and Zaid Hossain, 30, the police official said.

According to police, Miah had accompanied his friends — all of whom were residents of bordering villages in Sonamura, Sepahijala — while they were traveling in Khowai with five cows in a mini truck during the early hours of June 20.

The three arrested men reportedly confessed to police that the villagers attacked the victims as they had suspected the group to be cattle lifters, as per The Times of India. Miah was able to escape, but his three friends had been caught.

Miah was later found and hacked to death in a jungle before being buried, according to the report. Police conducted a search and were able to find the body in the forest following the arrested men's statements.

Police suspected that a large number of villagers might be involved in the lynching as they had been doing night surveillance following the sudden increase of cattle lifting. An early investigation had found that around 30 to 40 villagers on motorcycles had gathered to kill the three men, according to an earlier report by the Indian Express.

"Since it was a case of mob lynching, identification of criminals was difficult," Kumar was quoted as saying by The Times of India.

"But we expect to arrest more soon to conclude the investigation," the police officer added.