Maharashtra: Palghar religious leaders lynching case handed over to CBI

Almost two and a half years after three persons including two Sadhus were lynched by a mob in Palghar district near Mumbai, the Maharashtra Home Department has handed over the probe of the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The case was being investigated by the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) earlier. Home minister Devendra Fadnavis confirmed the development to the PTI.

The incident had taken place at Gadchinchle village during night on April 16, 2020 in the midst of coronavirus pandemic when two Sadhus (monks) were heading towards Surat from Mumbai in a car with a driver to attend a funeral. A mob of villagers stopped them and beat them to death on suspicion that they were child-lifters, even as a few police personnel had reached the spot. The BJP, then in opposition, had accused that there was a conspiracy behind the attack on the religious leaders, and demanded CBI probe.

Then home minister Anil Deshmukh had opposed the demand, saying the killing took place as some villagers mistook them to be child traffickers.