Don’t give communal colour to Palghar mob lynching, says CM

Amid the uproar over the lynching of three men in Palghar last week, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday warned of strict action against those trying to give

Amid the uproar over the lynching of three men in Palghar last week, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday warned of strict action against those trying to give religious colour to the incident. He asserted that those involved in the incident will not be spared and Criminal Investigation Department’s (CID) chief Atulchandra Kulkarni will conduct a high-level probe.

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On April 16, two sadhus and their driver were lynched to death by a huge mob outside Gadhchinchale village, 110km from Palghar, on the suspicion of being child-lifters. It later emerged that the sadhus — 70-year-old Swami Kalpvriksha Giri and 35-year-old Sushil Giri — belonged to Varanasi-based Juna Akhara and were on their way to Gujarat to attend the last rites of their guru Mahant Shri Ram Giri. “The police have arrested more than 100 suspects, including five key accused responsible for the incident. The key accused have remanded in police custody till April 30. We have suspended two policemen, holding them responsible for the incident,” said the CM. He said he has spoken to Union home minister Amit Shah and apprised him of the details of the case. “Even Amitbhai Shah knows that the incident had no religious connection as the village in which the incident took place has no such background. Even he has admitted it. I have requested him to take strict action against people fanning passions and trying to spread communal tension using social media. Those active on social media never bear the brunt of the repercussions, but they cannot go scot-free now,” Thackeray said on Facebook Live.

He also said the two sadhus had reached Union territory of Dadra Nagar Haveli, but the authorities did not allow them to enter and hence they were forced to return through internal roads. “The persons killed were sent back from the border of the Dadra-Nagar Haveli amid the lockdown restrictions. Had they been given shelter by the authorities or coordinated with us, this could have been averted,” he said.

Thackeray, who also spoke in Hindi, said he has also spoken to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath over the incident.

Taking a potshot at the leaders of the opposition Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), who have attacked the government for the incident, Thackeray reminded them about incidents of mob lynching during the government under Devendra Fadnavis. “I do not want to play politics over the issue.Lynching is not the culture of Maharashtra. But this is not the first incident of lynching in the state. Similar incidents have taken place in Dhule, Chandrapur in the past five years,” he said.

BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said his party has not politicised the incident, but the lynching was politically patronised. “Palghar district council president belonging to the Nationalist Congress Party and panchayat samiti members belonging to the left parties were present when the incident took place. Most of the arrested accused are from the Left parties. There is direct involvement of political leaders and highlighting facts cannot be termed politicisation,” he said.

While reacting to CM Thackeray’s reference to the lynching during the five-year rule of Fadnavis government, Bhandari said, “The Shiv Sena was part of the Fadnavis government and they were equally responsible for those cases.”