(Image source from: theprint.in)

Mob lynching has been very prevalent in India, be it because of religion or because of prompted misunderstandings. A similar incident happened a few days ago on April 16 when 3 sadhus were lynched to death by some of the villagers in the Palghar district of Maharashtra.

According to the reports from the Inspector General of Police, Konkan Range, Niket Kaushik, he said that the incident happened because the villagers mistook the three people for thieves and hence attacked them.

Niket Kaushik has also reported that he has suspended the police station in charge on the night of the incident. Aside from that, another cop has also been suspended for alleged dereliction of duty.

Maharashtra CM, Uddhav Thackeray has asked for a high level investigation of the matter to get a better understanding of things and why the event even happened in the first place. He suggested that the probe should be carried out under faster advice so that the culprits are identified.

Aside from that, even the Ministry of Home Affairs have asked for a detailed report on the incident from the Government of Maharashtra as soon as possible.

Owing to the consistent misinformation that has been spreading around, it is extremely important to know how the actual events happened. Amidst the three people that were killed in the mob lynching in Palghar, two of them were sadhus and one was their driver.

The events happened on April 16, when a group of villagers from Palghar, Maharashtra dragged out three men out of their car and beat them to death believing that they were likely thieves. The attack happened when the country entered into the 2nd day of Lockdown 2.0.

According to the reports from a police officer, they said that the villagers stopped the vehicle on the Dhabadi-Khandel road which is nearby to the village. The three victims were on their way to attend a funeral that was taking place in Surat. Upon spotting the three men, they were dragged out of their cars and pelted with stones and several other objects with the suspicion of them being thieves.

The three victims were later identified as Chikne Maharaj Kalpavrukshagiri, Sushilgiri Maharaj and their car driver Nilesh Telgade.

Inspector Anandrao Kale from the Kasa police station informed a news agency that the incident happened between 9:30 to 10 pm. The senior official reported that police force wouldn’t have been able to save the victims as they would have been outnumbered by the villagers who gathered around in 100s.

Even the force CM of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis expressed his shame and distress surrounding the matter stating, “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. 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.”

Alerted with the situation, Maharashtra Deputy CM, Anil Deshmukh reported that they have demanded for a high level probe about the situation to get a list of all the villagers involved in the lynching. Deshmukh even stated that they are keeping an eye out on the individuals who are trying to create a rift in the society.

Uttar Pradesh CM, Yogi Adityanath even stated that he has spoke to the CM of Maharashtra about the incident and asked for immediate and strict implications for the individuals who are responsible for creating all the chaos.

Union Home Minister, Amit Shah has even spoke to the Maharashtra CM to get insights about the situation and find out who is behind this horrible incident. They have asked for immediate reports on the incident.

There have been some of the gruesome videos of the incident that have gone viral on the social media as well and invoking rage among the citizens of India.

Investigation is underway and no further reports about the Palghar incident has been reported as of now.

By Somapika Dutta