At the time of going to press the nine were said to be held in custody at George Town, helping the police in their investigations.

Our sources said that one Sheikh Zurr Fall died on the way to hospital after being allegedly beaten by a mob on Tuesday.

The late Sheikh Fall, a Senegalese, is said to have arrived in The Gambia on Monday, renting a house in Bansang. On the evening of the same day, the sources said, the late Fall allegedly started hurling insults.

When the landlord, who was not at home at the time the late Fall was given the house, returned from the ‘Lumo’ the following day and was briefed about Fall’s behavior, he gave him notice to vacate the house.

The following day, Fall continued uttering insults, while armed with a cutlass and knife. As one Omar Ndow, alias Nyokorr, approached him to calm him down, the sources stated, he viciously cut him on the left hand with the cutlass, leading to a scene when the cries of Mr Ndow attracted a large crowd.

According to the sources, as people attempted to put him under control, he started pelting them with stones and the crowd retaliated in like manner. Seeing that he could not match the hostility of the growing crowd, he reportedly tried to escape by scaling a fence but the crowd caught up with him and beat him seriously before dragging him to the police station.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations, Inspector Sulayman Secka, confirmed the story.