Mumbai: Three people, who were travelling from Kandevali in Gujarat via interior roads of Palgarh, were beaten to death on April 17 by villagers in Palgarh, suspecting them as thieves, Palgarh police said on Sunday.
Three days after the incident a video had emerged and is going viral on social media where people can be seen attacking 3 saffron clad men. On Sunday, April 19, the incident suddenly took a political and even communal colour when video footage of the incident emerged and BJP leaders highlighted the fact that the men who were lynched were wearing saffron robes.
Soon hashtags like #JusticeforHinduSadhus #पालघर_के_गुनहगार #PalgarhMoblynching started trending on Twitter. Many Hindutva oriented social media handles tried to give communal angle to the incident.
Maharashtra Home Minister clarified in his tweet that the attackers weren’t Muslims but belonged to the same religion of the victims.
हमला करनेवाले और जिनकी इस हमले में जान गई – दोनों अलग धर्मीय नहीं हैं।
बेवजह समाज में/ समाज माध्यमों द्वारा धार्मिक विवाद निर्माण करनेवालों पर पुलिस और @MahaCyber1 को कठोर कार्रवाई करने के आदेश दिए गए हैं।#LawAndOrderAboveAll— ANIL DESHMUKH (@AnilDeshmukhNCP) April 19, 2020
The Palghar police have arrested 110 people in connection with the incident. Of these, nine are juvenile. The adult accused have been remanded in police custody till April 30 and the juveniles have been sent to a children’s home, a representative from Palghar police station confirmed. Most were taken into custody on April 17, one day after the incident.
Most of those arrested belong to Gadchinchale village in Dahanu Taluka of Palghar district. According to the 2011 census, the village has around 248 households, all belonging to the Scheduled Tribes as reported by The Wire.
Horrific video of a mob lynching in cops’ presence in #Palghar Maharashtra, run by @OfficeofUT whr a few days ago a cop & doctor had been assaulted.
Media downplayed, said “mistaken suspicion as robbers” & suppressed that they were in Hindu religious robes.
Why this hypocrisy?
— Baijayant Jay Panda (@PandaJay) April 19, 2020
विडीओ देख ले !
मारने वाले का नाम शोएब है !
अगर मौलवी होता और मारने वाले का नाम अनुराग होता तो तुने उसको #RSS #Bajrangdal के नाम से बिल फाड़ दिया होता और सड़क पर #hinduterror चिल्लाते हुए नज़र आते ! #PalgharMoblynching #Palghar_Incident https://t.co/SeeB0YM9p4— Ashoke Pandit (@ashokepandit) April 19, 2020
Image Courtesy : Satish Acharya.
