2 Sadhus, driver lynched in Maha’s Palghar, CM Uddhav orders probe
Mangalore Today News Network
Maharastra, Apr 20, 2020: Three men from Mumbai, on their way to Surat to attend a funeral on Friday, 17 April, were dragged out of a car and beaten to death by villagers in Palghar district of Maharashtra on suspicion of theft, leading to a flare-up in the state’s politics, with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray ordering a high-level probe into the incident. as to Yahoo.
Two of the three victims were reportedly sadhus affiliated to a Varanasi akhara.
While the police have arrested at least 110 people till now and registered cases under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), according to officials, an initial response team of the police could not save the victims, as they said that they were heavily outnumbered.
As the video of the gruesome incident went viral on social media on Sunday, several from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is the largest Opposition party in the state, slammed the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
The mob attack took place at a time when a nationwide lockdown is in force to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
WHO ARE THE DECEASED?
A police official, quoted by news agency PTI, identified the deceased as Chikne Maharaj Kalpavruksh Giri (70), Sushil Giri (35) their car driver Nilesh Telgade (30), all three hailing from Kandivali in north Mumbai.
They were heading to Surat to attend a funeral.
Kapavruksh Giri and Sushil Giri belonged to a Gosavi Nomadic Tribe and were affiliated to one ‘Shri Panch Dashnam Juna Akhaara’ in Varanasi, according to The Wire.
WHAT HAPPENED
Inspector Anandrao Kale of the Kasa police station told PTI the gruesome incident took place between 9.30-10 pm on Thursday.
The car was stopped by the mob on the Dhabadi-Khanvel road near village Gadchinchale by local residents.
Rumours of a gang of bandits roaming in the district were circulating in the area, Additional Superintendent of Police Vijay Sagar told PTI. The victims pulled out of the car and attacked by villagers with stones and other objects on suspicion of being thieves.
Sagar said an initial response team of the police (which typically has three or four personnel) reached the spot and tried to rescue the victims by placing them in the police vehicle.
But the mob attacked the victims even inside the police vehicle and the police personnel, who were heavily outnumbered, could not do anything, he said.
THE PROBE
After the incident, the Palghar police arrested 110 people including nine minors. While 101 adult accused have been remanded in police custody till 30 April, the minors have been sent to a juvenile home.
An offence under IPC Section 302 (murder) along with other sections, including armed rioting and 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), has been registered, inspector Kale told PTI.
IPC Section 188 has been invoked in the case due to the coronavirus-enforced lockdown under which sweeping curbs have been imposed on movement and assembly of people, he said.
Combing operations were continuing in Gadchinchle village to nab members of the mob involved in the gruesome act.
The Maharashtra government has ordered a high-level inquiry into the incident, state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said on Sunday.
COMMUNAL ANGLE
As soon as the victims were identified, several across social media questioned as to why ‘Hindu Sadhus’ are not safe in the state and alleged a communal conspiracy. BJP MP Baijayant Jay Panda also took to Twitter to allege that media supressed the fact that “they were in Hindu religious robes”.
Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, however, warned against giving any communal colour to the incident.
In a tweet, the home minister said, “Police have detained 101 people involved into the killing of three Surat bound people in Palghar. I have also ordered high level inquiry into this killings".
Deshmukh further said that the police are keeping a close eye on those who wanted to use this incident to create a rift in the society.
“Those who attacked and who died in the Palghar mob killings are not from different religions....I have ordered Maharashtra police and @MahaCyber1 to take action against anyone instigating communal hatred in the society or on social media,” Deshmukh said in another tweet.
WHAT CM THACKERAY SAYS
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday night said that culprits involved in lynching will be brought to justice.
“The Palghar incident has been acted upon. The police has arrested all those accused who attacked the 2 sadhus, 1 driver and the police personnel, on the day of the crime itself,” he tweeted.
“Nobody guilty in this heinous crime and shameful act will be spared and they will be brought to justice in the strongest way possible,” the CM said in late night tweets posted from Twitter handle @CMOMaharashtra.
EX-CM FADNAVIS QUESTIONS POLICE ACTION
Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday demanded a high-level probe into the incident. Attacking the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government, the former chief minister also raised questions over the role of local police in the context of the incident.
"Palghar mob lynching is very cruel and a serious matter. It is more shocking to us the way police did not take any action against people gathering in the area with sticks," the Leader of Opposition said.
“What can be more shameful than the way police handed over these people into the hands of a berserk mob and allowed them to take law into their hands,” he said.
He said that a high-level be ordered into the matter to bring out the truth.
PAST INCIDENTS
The area has seen similar mob incidents in the past. Last week, some police personnel were attacked while probing the assault on a doctor.
In 2018, five persons of the Gosavi community were lynched in a village in Maharashtra’s Dhule, mistaking them to be child abductors.