Google techie lynched over Whatsapp rumours in Bidar

Bidar: Rumours being spread over Whatsapp yet again provoked the mob, this time in Bidar to lynch a 32-year-old techie and critically injure three others over suspicions of them being child abductors. The deceased, Mohammad Azam was a software engineer at Google. Azam along with three of his friends - Talha Ismail, Mohammed Salman and Mohammed Bashir - had gone for a drive on Friday. The gang had stopped for some refreshments at a shop near Balkut Tanda where they came across few children. Bashir is said to have offered some sweets to the children and this triggered suspicions of them child traffickers. Sensing trouble, upon seeing a crowd gathering around them, the gang got into their car and drove off. Reportedly, the car fell into a drain while the gang were trying to escape the people following them on bikes. The mob fury was such that they dragged the men out of the overturned vehicle and brutally assaulted them. By the time police rushed to the rescue of the gang, Azam had succumbed to his wounds while the remaining three were critically injured. Notably, such false rumours have claimed around 20 lives across the country since May 2018. Recently a Rajastham man had been lynched to death in the state capital after people suspected him to be a child trafficker. Source: News Karnataka