Over 100 remanded to police custody till April 30 for mass murder of Sadhus and attack on police in Palghar

Palghar: A local court on Saturday remanded 101 persons to police custody until April 30 on  charges of alleged rioting, murder of  three people and attack on a police party, 

On intervening night of April 16 and 17, the trio from Kandivali of north Mumbai, who were on the way to attend the funeral of a priest in Surat of Gujarat by a vehicle, were stopped and allegedly attacked by an irate mob of armed villagers at Gadchinchale village on the Dhabadi-Khanvel road on the border of Maharashtra and Dadra Nagar Haveli on suspicion of being thieves or child-lifters.

Since last few days, there were rumours circulating in the villages of the district that the thieves, dacoits, child-lifters and kidney-stealers were active in the villages and hence the villagers kept vigil and allegedly attacked outsiders, police said.

Those who were killed included Chikne Maharaj Kalpavrukshagiri (70), Sushil Giri Maharaj (35) and the driver Nilesh Telgade (30). The Kasa police on Friday registered three different offences relating to the incidents of the ill-fated night. 

The offences related to the attack on the trio by the irate mob of around 500 villagers, who killed them with the lethal weapons even as the police tried to rescue them, prompting the police to fire two rounds from their pistol. 

However, no one was injured in the firing incident, police said.In this connection, the mob has been booked under sections 302,120B, 427, 147, 148, and 149 of Indian Penal Code and as many as 101 persons have been arrested by the police so far.

Another offence under sections 307, 353, 333, 323, 341, 427, 147, 148 and 149 of Indian Penal Code and other relevant acts has been registered against the mob. 

The police also registered one more offence against the same mob, in which deputy Superintendent of Police Bhagwat Sonawane of Jawhar claimed that the irate armed mob attacked the police with stones and other weapons and attemped to kill them. 

Meanwhile, special Inspector General of Police (Konkan Range) Niket Kaushik today visited the scene of offence and held discussions with the senior police officials of the district. 

The police 'bandobast' has been intensitied in the district and the combing opearatios are underway, sources said, adding, more arrests are likely in connection of the ghastly crime, sources added.(UNI)