Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Wednesday made public the list of 101 people arrested for the lynching of three people, including two sadhus, in Palghar last week. He said none of the arrested were Muslims, and once again appealed to everyone to not communalise the incident.
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In a statement on social media, Mr. Deshmukh said, “Palghar lynching is a grotesque incident which happened due to rumours on social media about child kidnappers and thieves prowling in the area. A high-level inquiry is going on. People are requested to verify the facts from trusted sources and not fall for rumours.”
“There was a sound heard in the video ‘oye bas, ’ and people circulated it online with some calling it ‘Shoaib bas’ . At a time when the entire State machinery is busy fighting coronavirus, there are some people who are trying to bring communal angle into it,” he said.
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The Nagpur police late on Wednesday night registered an FIR against news anchor and editor of Republic TV, Arnab Goswami, acting on a complaint filed by State Power Minister Nitin Raut.
The FIR includes charges of giving provocation with intent to cause riot, promoting enmity between two groups on grounds of religion or race, deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs, and defamation under the Indian Penal Code.
Mr. Goswami, in his TV show, had allegedly made inflammatory statements on the Palghar lynching and linked Congress president Sonia Gandhi with the incident.
Maharashtra Congress Committee president and Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat tweeted, “I condemn the attempts made by Arnab Goswami to communalise the unfortunate incident at Palghar & also the derogatory language used by him against @INCIndia President Sonia ji Gandhi. I have spoken to CM @OfficeofUT & HM @AnilDeshmukhNCP. Strict action will be initiated against him.”
Minister of State (Home) Satej Patil told The Hindu that the government had asked the authorities to collect all information about the show and its content. “We are verifying the details. Appropriate action will be taken after analysing everything,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee issued a statement demanding action against the news anchor for making extremely objectionable personal remarks against Ms. Gandhi.