Palghar lynching: New SP appointed

The state home department appointed Dattatreya Shinde as the new superintendent of police (SP), Palghar, on Saturday. Shinde takes charge after Gaurav Singh, the

The state home department appointed Dattatreya Shinde as the new superintendent of police (SP), Palghar, on Saturday. Shinde takes charge after Gaurav Singh, the SP who was in charge when the Palghar lynching incident took place, was sent on compulsory leave by home minister Anil Deshmukh on May 8. Singh has been transferred out of the district but is still awaiting his posting.

HT Image

Shinde had earlier served as the SP of Sindhudurg, Sangli and is currently posted at the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL), head office at Bandra.

Three people, including two seers, were lynched by more than 500 people at Gadchinchale village, Dahanu in Palghar district on April 16.

So far, more than 160 accused have been arrested by the state CID which is probing the case. Ten arrested minors have been sent to children’s remand home in Bhiwandi.

When produced before the Dahanu court on May 12, the accused mentioned in the first information report (FIR) number 76/2020 (attempt to murder charge) have been remanded in judicial custody, while the accused mentioned in FIR number 77/2020 (murder charge) have been remanded in police custody till May 26, said Parmanand Ojha, counsel for the three victims.

“The list of accused is huge and CID is making arrests daily. As there are three FIRs filed in the case, the total number of arrested will only be clear after May 26,” said Ojha.

Previously, the home ministry had suspended five police personnel, including the Kasa police in-charge assistant police inspector (API) Anandrao Kale; his subordinate, sub-inspector (SI) Sudhir Katare; and transferred about 35 police personnel from the station to various departments in Palghar district.