Palghar religious leaders lynching case handed over to CBI

Mumbai: Almost two and a half years after three persons including two Sadhus were lynched by a mob in the Palghar district near Mumbai, the Maharashtra Home Department has handed over the probe of the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The case was being investigated by the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) earlier

Home minister Devendra Fadnavis confirmed the development to the PTI.

The incident had taken place at Gadchinchle village during the night on April 16, 2020, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic when two Sadhus (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.

The BJP, then in opposition, had accused there was a conspiracy behind the attack on the religious leaders, and demanded CBI probe

Then home minister Anil Deshmukh had opposed the demand, saying the killing took place as some villagers mistook them to be child traffickers.