Plea in Bombay HC seeks transfer of Palghar mob lynching probe to NIA

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 24 (ANI): A petition was filed in Bombay High Court on Friday seeking to transfer the investigation into the Palghar incident, in which two Sadhus and their driver were killed by an angry mob, to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
The petition, filed by Mumbai-based lawyer Ghanshyam Upadhyay, also sought directions to the Central government and Palghar SP to submit a report to the NIA with a view to enabling the agency to make a decision about taking over the investigation.
"The investigation of the case so transferred by this court to the Respondent Number 4 (NIA) be monitored and supervised by this court and the same is directed to be carried out within some time-bound manner and the Respondent No 4 be further directed to submit their periodical reports to this court," the petition said.
The plea said that the matter is extremely serious and sensitive in nature and also has far-reaching consequences since powerful persons seem to be involved and appear to be kingpins of the criminal conspiracy.
"In the entire episode, the local police and their higher rank officers seem to be a party of the said deep-rooted criminal conspiracy and with the result, every attempt is made by the culprits and local police to show as if, it was a case of mob lynching under the mistake and belief of those saints being thieves," the plea said.
"Not only the video of mob lynching has been stage-managed in a pre-planned manner, but even a fake narrative is created to the effect that those saints were believed to be thieves by the mob on account of there being several incidents of thefts in the area," it added.
The petition alleged that the FIR in the matter was registered after two days.
It said that the delay in registering the FIR appears to be an attempt to "brush aside such ghastly crime under the carpet" by taking advantage of nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19.
"It is discernible that that local police, including the high ranking police personnel, also appears to be deeply involved in the criminal conspiracy of the brutal murder of those two Hindu saints and their driver and the investigation needs to be carried out by the NIA as local or state police can not be believed at least in this particular matter," the plea said. (ANI)