The Nagaland government blocked all internet and mobile data services in the state for 48 hours from Saturday night to stop people from circulating images and videos of the lynching of Syed Sarif alias Farid Khan in Dimapur.
It also imposed curfew in Dimapur town from 3pm on Sunday till 12 midnight following rumours that some people were planning a candlelight march at the town's City Tower in the evening where Khan was lynched.
Khan, a businessman from Assam who was accused of allegedly raping his Naga wife's cousin, was dragged out of Dimapur jail, paraded naked, pelted with stones and lynched by a rampaging mob on Thursday. The mob then hanged his body from the City Tower. Khan had been arrested on February 24.
After videos related to the lynching went viral, the government instructed mobile service providers to block SMS/MMS services, and came out with a notification blocking internet in local newspapers on Sunday. Police said the step was taken as a preventive measure to contain tension.