[ad_1]
Mumbai: One of the defendants arrested in a mob leaching case in Palghar, and who was at the Wada police station, was found infected with the coronavirus COVID-19. The defendant was first admitted to an isolation ward at Palghar Rural Hospital and is being transferred to a prisoner room at JJ Hospital.
Although unconfirmed, the accused is believed to have contracted the infection as almost 20-30 defendants were housed in a single cell in the prison.
On May 1, the Maharashtra Police Crime Investigation Department (CID) arrested five more people in connection with the lynching of sadhus in Palghar. With this, the total number of people arrested in the case has reached 101 while a search is underway to catch some others.
In another development, the Supreme Court on Friday (May 1) ordered the Maharashtra government to submit a status report on the investigation into the Palghar lynching incident. The statement alleged that the incident was a failure by the police as a crowd had gathered in the area in violation of the closing rules. Refusing to remain in the investigation, the high court asked the petitioner to submit a copy of the statement to the Maharashtra permanent lawyer.
The incident took place in the village of Gadchinchle on April 16 when the two monks were on their way to Surat from Mumbai in a car with a driver to attend a funeral. A crowd of villagers detained them and beat them to death on suspicion that they were thieves, even when some police officers had arrived on the scene.
Some of the accused then fled into the dense forest around the town. According to an official, the police used drones to hunt them down.
[ad_2]
