Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Sunday announced that a high-level inquiry had been set up into the Palghar lynching that occurred last week. He also said the police had been instructed to keep an eye out for any attempts to give the incident a “controversial” spin.
On the night of April 16, three Mumbai residents, who were on their way to Silvassa, were allegedly lynched at Gadakchinchale in Palghar. The mob also tried to attack police teams that entered the village, and the police had to fire two rounds in the air to quell them. The Kasa police arrested 101 people and inquiries are still under way.
“The Palghar police have already taken 101 people into custody in connection with the matter and a high level inquiry has also been set up in the case. The police will also keep an eye on those who are trying to create a rift in society by giving this a controversial spin,” Mr. Deshmukh tweeted late on Sunday night. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aaditya, too, tweeted that those responsible had already been arrested and that no one would be allowed to go scot-free.
While some videos of the incident had made the rounds on social media on Friday, a couple of new videos, in which the first responding police personnel are seen grossly overpowered and ill-equipped to save the three victims, came to light on Sunday, triggering an outrage. To make matters worse, on a certain section on social media, especially Twitter, people started posting communally charged statements connected to the incident, as two of the three victims were local Hindu religious leaders.
Bharatiya Janata Party leaders like Sambit Patra, aso shared the videos, claiming that “saints” were being lynched in Maharashtra. By late Sunday evening, hashtags like Palghar, Maharashtra and lynching were trending in India on Twitter, taking potshots at the Chief Minister.
