The Chinsurah court convicts 25 for lynching incident 9 years ago

The Chinsurah court has convicted 25 individuals in the brutal lynching that occurred in Asanpur village under Balagarh police station in Hooghly district in January 2017.

On Thursday, Additional District and Sessions Judge (Fast Track, First Court) Piyushkanti Roy of the Chinsurah court delivered the verdict. Five of the convicts are women. The court is scheduled to pronounce the sentence on Friday.

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The incident dates back to January 2017, when the wife and daughter of a professor at Kalyani University were allegedly assaulted by a mob on suspicion of child abduction. The victims were severely beaten, and an attempt was reportedly made to set them ablaze by setting their car on fire. The driver was also targeted in the attack. Several police personnel who attempted to bring the situation under control were also assaulted.

Public Prosecutor Shankar Gangopadhyay said: “Recently, 20 people were convicted in a case at the Arambagh Sub-Divisional Court. However, I cannot recall 25 people being convicted together in any court in the district before.”

Government counsel Jayant Saha stated that the accused were convicted under Sections 333 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt to deter a public servant from duty), 435 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to cause damage), 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code. Section 149 (unlawful assembly in prosecution of a common object) was also invoked in conjunction with each of the charges. Section 307 carries a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.

The investigating officer in the case was Sub-Inspector Alok Kumar Chatterjee. The court will announce the sentences on Friday.