Bombay HC to hear petition seeking CBI probe into Palghar mob lynching

The Bombay High Court on Thursday accepted to hear a petition seeking a CBI/SIT probe into the Palghar mob lynching incident and compensation for the victims’ kin.

The Bombay High Court also issued notices to Maharashtra government and the CBI and directed them to respond within two weeks.

The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by lawyer Alok Srivastava on April 29 demanding a CBI probe or constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigation into the matter. It also urged the court to conduct the investigation in a fast track court.

The mob lynching of two sadhus -- Kalpavriksha Giri Maharaj (70 years) and Sushil Giri Maharaj (35) - and their driver in Maharashtra's Palghar on April 16 set off a political hailstorm in which the BJP and other parties accused the state government of its ineptitude to take strict action against those who committed the crime.

The shocking incident occurred when three men who were travelling from Mumbai's Kandivali towards Surat in Gujarat in a car to attend a funeral on the night of April 16.

Their vehicle was stopped by a mob, consisting mostly of 70-80 local villagers, in Palghar district and the trio was lynched under suspicion that they were kidnappers. The villagers also attacked the police personnel when they tried to stop the rampaging mob and some policemen also sustained injuries in the incident.

The cops have said that the accused in the mob are all local villagers from the Vikramgad Taluka and the Gadchnchale village in the Dahanu Taluka in the district.