[Al Jazeera] Police in the Indian state of Assam have tossed in the slammer
Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages!
at least 18 people in connection with the lynching of two youths following rumours on social media and WhatsApp that they were child traffickers.
Abhijit Nath and Nilotpal Das were beaten to death on Saturday by a mob of around 200 people in a remote village of Karbi Anglong district, some 200km east of the state capital, Guwahati.
The duo is the latest victims of rumours circulating on social media, particularly WhatsApp, about the child kidnapping gangs.
"We have taken strict measures against the culprits and arrested 18 individuals. We have also arrested some persons who were involved in spreading rumours on social media," Director General of Assam Police (DGP) Kuladhar Saikia told Al Jazeera.
The clip of the lynching was widely shared on social media, which showed Das pleading with folded hands: "Don't kill me ... Please don't beat me. I am an Assamese ... Please let me go."
Nath, 30, and Das, 29, had gone to remote Panjuri Kachari village on Saturday for sightseeing in a black four-wheel drive, when they were chased and beaten to death on the suspicion of child kidnapping.
"There was a rumour that some child abductors had entered our village. This was shared via WhatsApp and Facebook. The message also read that one of the abductors had long hair," said a village woman at Panjuri Kachari village who didn't wish to be named.
"The youth were stopped and asked about their whereabouts. But in between some local people came and started thrashing them," the woman said. 
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