Court grants bail to 89 accused in Palghar mob lynching case

A special court in Maharashtra'sThane district on Saturday granted bail to 89 accused in thePalghar mob lynching case, in which two sadhus and theirdriver were killed.

District judge S B Bahalkar in his order granted bailto 89 accused and fixed the next date of hearing in the caseto February 15.

Appearing for the accused, advocates Amrut Adhikariand Atul Patil submitted in the court that the applicants hadno role to play in the attack and the police had arrested themon mere suspicion.

The accused also questioned the validity of three FIRsregistered for the same incident.

A total of 201 persons have been arrested in the case,of which 75 main accused are in jail.

Special public prosecutor Satish Maneshinde appearedfor the prosecution, while advocate P N Ojha appeared for thefamily of the sadhus.

On April 16, 2020, a mob lynched two sadhus ChikneMaharaj Kalpavrukshagiri (70) and Sushilgiri Maharaj (35) -and their driver Nilesh Telgade (30) at Gadchinchale inPalghar district, 140 km north of Mumbai.

The brutal attack took place amid rumours that child-lifters were roaming in the area during the lockdown.