Palghar lynching case: Two more arrested

A highly-placed source in the State CID Crime Branch told UNI that the duo, who were arrested on Monday, were presented in the court of FCJM at Dahanu on Tuesday and remanded into police custody till May 31.

The 10 juveniles are now lodged in the remand home, he added.
Out of 150 accused, 133 were presently in the judicial custody, while the remaining seven were in police custody.

In the incident, three people, including two godmen, who were traveling in a car towards Surat to attend a funeral of a Sadhu, were waylaid by an armed mob of around 500 at Gadchinchale and lynched in the presence of police on April 16, at around 2300 hrs.

The irate mob was planning to burn the trio alive, but their attempt failed due to non-availability of fuel.

The incident gave rise to many hues and cry with several sections of the society and political parties trading allegations on one another and finally blaming the ruling party.

Immediately upon the incident, police carried out massive combing operations and arrested the first lot of 110 accused, including nine juveniles.

What followed was the suspension of Kasa police station In-Charge, two other police officers and three constables. Also, 35 members of the constabulary of the police station were transferred out en masse.

The final axe fell on Palghar SP Gaurav Singh, who was first sent on forced leave and later replaced by another IPS officer.

The state government, realising the seriousness of the case, handed over the entire probe to the State CID Crime branch under the supervision of ADG Atulchandra Kulkarni.