One of the persons arrested by the Maharashtra Police in connection with the contentious Palghar Mob Lynching case has now been detected positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection, sources said on Saturday. The person was arrested, along with more than 100 others, in connection with the killing of three men, including two saints, in Maharashtra's Palghar.
For context, an angry mob, armed with axes and sticks, at the Palghar village in Maharashtra last month had lynched to death the three persons, including the two sadhus, under suspicion of them being thieves. The victims were travelling from Mumbai's Kandivali towards Surat in Gujarat in a Ford EcoSport car to attend a funeral on Thursday night.
The Maharashtra Police had in an overnight combing operation arrested more than 100 persons in connection with the lynching incident. However, one of the arrested individuals has now tested positive for COVID-19.
Sources said that the individual was being kept in a police lock-up at Wada in the district along with 20 others. However, now the person has been moved to a government hospital in Palghar after being detected for COVID-19.
The Palghar Mob Lynching incident has generated considerable media attention. The incident was also rapidly growing controversial and attaining a communal colour, especially as leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had pointed out that the victims of the lynching incident were wearing saffron robes. The Maharashtra state government, however, asked to not communalise the incident as the victims and the assaulters were reportedly not of separate religions.
Notably, the vehicle that the individuals were travelling in was stopped by a mob, consisting mostly of 70-80 local villagers, in the Palghar district and the trio was lynched under suspicion that they were thieves and 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.
Meanwhile, as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak continues to spread like wildfire in India, the central and state governments are respectively amping up all of their efforts to check potential contamination. A nationwide lockdown is in place, which was further extended on Friday (May 1) by the Ministry of Home Affairs for two weeks beyond May 3. This is the second extension to the lockdown first announced on March 24 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had declared an extension of the initial nationwide lockdown till May 3 to battle the novel coronavirus.
The MHA on Friday also issued new guidelines to regulate different activities in this period, based on the risk profiling of the districts of the country into red (hotspot), green and orange zones. The guidelines have permitted considerable relaxations in the districts falling in the green and orange zones.
The new guidelines also prescribe certain measures for well being and safety of persons. Hence, movement of individuals, for all non-essential activities, shall remain strictly prohibited between 7 pm to 7 am, the MHA said. Local authorities shall issue orders under appropriate provisions of law, such as prohibitory orders [curfew] under Section 144 of CrPC, for this purpose, and ensure strict compliance, the ministry said.
