Hungry mob assaults villagers for food

Mahoba, Jun 3: Even as the Uttar Pradesh government announced the free food distribution scheme for calamity victims, the benefit is not reaching the masses with another case of food robbery reported here last evening, where unbearing hunger pangs, a mob assaulted three people for food in the Mahobkanth area in this district of the drought-hit Bundelkhand region.

Vijay, Munna and Ranjit were heading towards their fields in Kankua village, when a group of irate people attacked them and fled with their tiffin, police today said.

Food theft incidents had spiralled in the region after being hit by the natural calamity, however, this was reportedly the first case, where a mob assaulted villagers for food.

Earlier in December, starving villagers had looted quintals of cereals from one Ram Aasare Khagar's godown in Ghalora village.

Yesterday's incident was reported to the Sub Divisional magistrate Prajjal Yadav, who said the government had initiated several schemes, whereby free food was distributed to the poor.

Stringent action would be taken against those, who had yet not implemented the scheme candidly, which was coercing locals to commit such crimes, he underlined.

UNI