18 more arrested by CID in Palghar lynching case

Mumbai: Eighteen more people have been arrested by Maharashtra Police’s CID in the Palghar lynching case, officials said on Tuesday.

The Crime Investigation Department (CID) is probing the incident in which three persons, including two seers, who were lynched by a mob of villagers in neighboring Palghar district last month.

With the latest arrests, the number of those held in connection with the case has gone up to 134.

“These include 24 arrested so far by the CID after it was handed over the case,” a senior official from the CID said.

“All those arrested by the CID were “actively involved in the violence and lynching”, another official said.

Earlier, 110 people, including nine juveniles, were taken into custody by Palghar Police in the case.

The incident took place at Gadchinchle village on April 16 when two monks were heading towards Surat from Mumbai in a car with a driver to attend a funeral.

A mob of villagers stopped them and beat them to death on suspicion that they were child-lifters, even as a few police personnel had reached the spot.

“Some of the accused later fled into the dense forest around the village. The police used drones to hunt them,” an official earlier said.

One of the persons arrested in the case tested positive for coronavirus earlier this month and was admitted to a government hospital.