Three Muslim men were lynched by a mob in India’s northeastern state of Assam days before voting is set to take place in state elections, police and local reports said.
The incident occurred in Nagaon district, a Muslim-majority area in central Assam, in the early hours of Monday morning.
According to police, a group of around 10 to 12 men allegedly entered a house in No. 1 Kathpara village at around 2am.
The attackers reportedly tied up members of the family, threatened a six-year-old child with a knife, and looted cash and jewellery.
As the group attempted to flee, the family raised an alarm, prompting neighbours to gather and chase the suspects.
Four of the men were caught by the crowd and beaten severely before police arrived at the scene.
Two of the victims died at the scene, while a third later succumbed to his injuries in hospital. A fourth man remains in critical condition.
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The deceased have been identified as Saifullah, Ajibur also known as Khairul, and Enamul Haque. Police have not yet confirmed the identity of the surviving individual.
History of mob violence
Mob lynching, where a crowd carries out extrajudicial killings or violence, has been a recurring issue in parts of India, often linked to allegations of theft or cow slaughter.
Rights groups have warned that Muslims and other marginalised communities are disproportionately targeted in such attacks.
Nagaon district itself has witnessed several such incidents over the years. It is also historically significant as the site of the 1983 Nellie massacre, in which thousands of Bengali Muslims were killed during a period of intense ethnic and political unrest. No one has been meaningfully prosecuted for those killings.
Similar cases of mob violence have been reported in Assam in recent years, including in Morigaon district in 2023.
State accused of targeting Muslims
Monday’s killings did not occur in isolation. They took place in a state where the Chief Minister has openly threatened to “break the backbone of Miyas”, a term widely used for Bengali-origin Muslims.
In February 2026, the official BJP Assam X account posted a video showing Himanta Biswa Sarma symbolically firing a rifle at framed images of Muslim individuals.
The video included captions such as “point-blank shot” and “No mercy”, drawing widespread condemnation and accusations of incitement to violence.
Between May 2021, when Sarma became Chief Minister, and early 2026, more than 22,000 structures were demolished and over 20,000 Muslim families were evicted, most of them Bengali-speaking Muslims.
Since 2016, more than 17,600 families, mostly Bengali Muslims, have been evicted across Assam, including 5,000 since June 2025 alone.
In January 2026, demolition drives razed 1,200 homes in Sonitpur. A month later, 516 homes were demolished in Hailakandi.
The latest killings come amid heightened political tensions in Assam ahead of state elections.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, a senior leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, has faced criticism from activists and opposition figures over remarks and policies they say have contributed to an atmosphere of hostility towards Muslims.
Since 2021, authorities in Assam have carried out large-scale eviction drives, with tens of thousands of families displaced, many of them Bengali-speaking Muslims.
Officials have said the demolitions target illegal encroachments on government land, while critics argue they disproportionately affect Muslims.
In recent months, statements and social media content linked to political actors in the state have also drawn condemnation, with some accusing them of using inflammatory rhetoric.
Police have described the incident as a case linked to suspected robbery, and an investigation is ongoing into the sequence of events and the role of those involved in the violence.
