2020 Palghar lynching: Nana Patel calls transfer of case to CBI ‘wrong’

Nana Patole, the chief of the Maharashtra Congress, slammed the Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday for taking over the investigation into the 2020 Palghar mob lynching case (CBI). He calls the decision “wrong”.

According to Patole, the government involves the central agency just to “keep the cases pending.”

“It is wrong to give the case to CBI, the state police is capable. CBI inquiry in the Sushant Singh case, and Girish Mahajan case are all pending. CBI is only involved when the Centre has to keep cases pending,” Patole told news agency ANI.

The Maharashtra government, which is led by Eknath Shinde, informed the Supreme Court in an affidavit on Tuesday that it had no issues with the 2020 Palghar lynching case being turned over to the CBI. The state administration submitted the affidavit in response to requests for a central agency investigation or a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe under court supervision into the incident.

Two Sadhus, Chikne Maharaj Kalpavrukshagiri, 70, and Sushilgiri Maharaj, 35, as well as their driver Nilesh Telgade, 30, were killed by a mob in April 2020 at Gadchinchale in the Palghar district, 140 kilometres north of Mumbai. They were making their way to a funeral in Surat, Gujarat, from Kandivali, Mumbai, during the emergency. They were attacked and killed when their car came to a halt.

At least 18 police officers were punished as a result of a departmental investigation into the incident. Another assistant police sub-inspector, a driver, and one assistant police inspector were all fired concurrently.