The Maharashtra Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Wednesday filed two chargesheets against 126 accused in the Palghar mob lynching case. On April 16 this year, three people were killed by a mob at Gadchinchle village in Palghar district.
Earlier, in April this year, the issue sparked national outrage after the shocking video of angry mob thrashing three people including a 70-year-old with sticks and stones went viral on social media.
The two chargesheets, 4,955-page and 5,921-page, were filed by Deputy Superintendent of Police Vijay Pawar in the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class at Dahanu taluka in Palghar district.
The CID Team examined 808 suspects and 118 witnesses to collect strong evidence against the accused. In all, 154 persons were arrested and 11 juveniles in conflict with the law, were detained. None of the accused has been released on bail so far.
The case was transferred to Maharastra CID after Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray intervened given the outrage over the issue. On April 21, the CID took over the investigation.
The accused have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including 302 (Punishment for murder), 307, 34, 120B. Apart from the sections of the IPC, the accused have been charged under sections 51(b), 52 and 54 of the Disaster Management Act and several provisions of the Epidemic Diseases Act as the incident took place amid the lockdown period.
Since there is adequate evidence against two juveniles in conflict with the law, separate proceedings against them are being initiated before the Juvenile Justice Board, the official statement said.
The victims were identified by the police as Chikne Maharaj Kalpavrukshagiri (70), Sushil Giri Maharaj (35) and their driver Nilesh Telgade (30). They were travelling towards Surat to attend the funeral of common acquaintance and were killed by the mob on suspicion that they were child-kidnappers and organ harvesters.
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