Mob fury claims two lives after boy’s body found in Tehatta pon
The Statesman | 7 September 2025The victim, identified as Swarnabh Biswas, a Class III student, had gone missing from his home on Friday afternoon. Despite desperate searches by his family, the child did not return home that night. On Saturday morning, his body, wrapped in a tarpaulin, was discovered in a waterbody concealed within a thicket close to his residence.
The discovery triggered a storm of rage among locals, who suspected foul play and accused a neighbouring family of involvement. A mob soon gathered at the house of Utpal Biswas, a Toto driver, and his wife, Soma. The house was ransacked and set ablaze, while the couple and other family members were dragged out and mercilessly assaulted.
Utpal and Soma succumbed to their injuries at Tehatta hospital, where doctors declared them dead on arrival. Another family member remains under treatment.
Police, led by Additional Superintendent of Police (Rural) Uttam Ghosh, rushed to the spot to restore order and have since deployed additional forces in the area. The child’s body has been sent for post-mortem examination.
Preliminary accounts suggest that suspicion against Utpal Biswas stemmed from his routine job of ferrying schoolchildren on his Toto. Villagers alleged that when Swarnabh went missing, their doubts fell squarely on him, leading to the mob attack.
The double death has thrown the locality into turmoil, with questions now looming over both the safety of children and the alarming recurrence of mob justice in rural Bengal.
