Could Palghar lynchings have been averted?

The April 16 lynching of two sadhus and their driver by a mob of around 400 tribal people in Maharashtra’s Palghar district has sparked a political controversy, with videos on social media suggesting that the state police allegedly failed to take adequate measures to prevent the incident, and Union home minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath calling up Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to demand strict action against the culprits. The sadhus, 70-year-old Kalpavrukshagiri Maharaj and 35-year-old Sushilgiri Maharaj, and their driver, 30-year-old Nilesh Telwade, were allegedly lynched in the presence of police in Gadchinchale village at Maharashtra’s border with Dadra and Nagar Haveli. Reacting to the clippings, leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis said, “More shocking is the way the police did not take any action against the people gathering in the area with sticks.” Faced with criticism, the Maharashtra government swung into action, suspending police officers Anandrao Kale and Sudhir Katare of Kasa police station for dereliction of duty. BJP leader Sunil Deodhar has alleged that local zila parishad member Kashinath Chaudhari of the Nationalist Congress Party as well as panchyat samiti members Vishnu Patra, Subhash Bhavar and Dharma Bhavar of the CPI were present when the lynching occurred.