A 35-year-old man was allegedly lynched by a neighbour and his associates in North Dinajpur district on Thursday morning over an old land dispute.

Police rushed to the spot and recovered the body. Six persons have been arrested in this connection so far.

Sources said that Rahim Sheikh, a resident of Ital village located under Raiganj police station, was at home in the morning when Md Shamim, one of his neighbours, called for him.

As Rahim went out of his house, Shamim, along with some others who were nearby, attacked him with rods and sticks. They went on beating him severely until Rahim collapsed on the spot and died.

The attackers then fled the spot.

Rahim's family members raised an alert and then the neighbours informed the police. Soon, a police team reached the village and recovered the body.

Md Nurul Islam, Rahim’s brother, said Shamim owns agricultural land next to Rahim’s plot.

“For quite some time now, he had been bothering my brother. Either he was damaging the crops or releasing water into the plot in huge quantities to damage land and cultivation. As Rahim had protested against these things, Shamim conspired with some people and killed him today (Thursday),” said Islam.

Khalequa Khatun, Rahim’s wife, also echoed her brother-in-law and blamed Shamim for her husband's death.

“Shamim is the mastermind. My husband was killed over land. We want justice,” the bereaved wife said.

Shamim’s family members, residents said, fled the village after the incident.

Later in the day, Rahim’s kin filed a complaint with Raiganj police. Senior police officers said a probe was on and six persons were arrested so far.

“Searches are on to nab others. Our men are patrolling in the village to keep the situation under control,” said an officer.

Minor thrashed

A 17-year-old boy was beaten up by some residents in Malda on Wednesday who suspected him to be a thief.

The boy, from neighbouring Jharkhand, was rescued from the mob by residents and police.

Sources said the boy reportedly snatched the cell phone of a person at local market in Goaltuli of Old Malda municipality. However, as the phone owner chased and caught the boy, many present on the spot started beating him. However, when the boy’s injuries started getting visible, some people stopped the attackers.

Eventually, the police reached the spot.

On July 18, two women, suspected to be phone thieves, were assaulted and their clothes torn by a mob in Pakuahat.

Additional reporting by Soumya De Sarkar in Malda