An alleged rapist, suspected to be an illegal migrant, was thrashed and killed by a mob which stormed the high-security central jail in Nagaland's commercial town of Dimapur, officials said.

At least 10 vehicles were also set ablaze by the unruly mob forcing the authorities to clamp curfew in Dimapur district.

Syed Farid Khan, a 35-year-old second hand car dealer, had allegedly raped a 20-year-old Naga woman on 23 and 24 February at different locations. Police arrested Khan on 25 February and later a lower court sent him to judicial custody.

‘A mob of around 4,000 people stormed the central jail after breaking the two gates and took the accused out of jail and paraded him naked to the city tower in the heart of Dimapur town, before we could rescue him from the mob,’ district police chief Meren Jamir told IANS.

He said Khan died after he was badly thrashed by the mob.

‘The body was retrieved from the mob after police fired in the air to disperse them,’ Jamir said.

‘We have clamped curfew in Dimapur district to contain the law and order situation following the unfortunate incident,’ district magistrate Wezope Kenye told IANS.

He said the district authorities had made all efforts to prevent the mob from storming the central jail.

‘We resorted to firing blanks and tear gas shells to disperse the mob but they managed to pull out Khan from the jail,’ Kenye said.

‘The situation is tense and we are making all efforts to restore normalcy in the district,’ he added.