Palghar mob lynching: Over 100 suspects arrested, what we know so far

On the unfortunate night of April 16, hardly 125 kilometres from Mumbai, Gadchinchle, a small village in Maharashtra's Palghar district, was all over the news for a horrific case of mob killing. Three people which included a 70-year-old man were attacked and killed. There were rumours in that area that those who were killed were kidnapping children to harvest organs, including kidneys.

There were some shocking visuals that were shared over the social media showing angry residents of Gadchinchale village, who were armed with sticks and stones, were completely out of control and attacking a police team.

The police team that had reached the spot after rumours of children being kidnapped were trying to restore order and rescuing the 70-year-old man and the two others. Two of those killed are sadhus; the third was the driver of the car they were travelling in. They were going to attend a funeral, according to some reports.

One of the videos showed a man shouting "Oye, isko maro" and the 70-year-old victim was surrounded by an armed mob and in seconds started bleeding profusely from his head, begging for his life. The cops were trying to control the situation.

The police had reached the spot and had put the victims in their van but the mob attacked the police van too and injured the policemen too. The incident created a furor among people with posts being circulated with hashtag #justice for sadhus.

The incident has attracted a lot of criticism on the political front. On April 19, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis condemned the mob attack. He said, "Seeing the visuals that have come out, Palghar incident of mob lynching is shocking & inhuman. It is more disturbing especially when we are going through such tough times otherwise too."

On the same day, Maharashtra Deputy CM Anil Deshmukh said the state government has ordered a high-level inquiry into the incident.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday said that he urges Maharashtra CM to take strict action against the culprits involve