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Four sadhus (religious ascetics) were allegedly assaulted by a mob in Maharashtra's Sangli district on Tuesday, 13 September, on the suspicion of being child-lifters, police said.
"The sadhus did not file any complaint. But we took suo moto cognisance and registered a case against 18 to 20 people, out of whom six persons have been identified and detained," Assistant Police Inspector Pankaj Pawar from Umadi police station told PTI.
He said that the four sadhus were on their way to Pandharpur in the neighbouring Solapur district in a vehicle.
"As they lost their path, they approached a boy at a powerhouse station near Lavanga village. The boy, who did not know any language other than Kannada, got scared after looking at their appearance and started shouting 'thief-thief'," added Pawar.
People from the village gathered there and caught hold of the sadhus. There was an argument which escalated quickly and the sadhus were allegedly beaten up with sticks by the locals, he said.
Meanwhile, Sangli Superintendent of Police Dikshit Gedam told news agency ANI, "Yesterday in Lavanga village, some monks were assaulted by villagers. Police reached there & took them to the hospital. Taking suo moto cognizance police has registered an offense. 6 accused arrested. Probe underway, more accused to be arrested soon."
Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Ram Kadam condemned the incident. He said that the state government will not tolerate such "misbehaviour" with the sadhus. Strict action will be taken against the accused, he said in a video message.
Palghar Sadhu Lynching Incident
The MLA also made a reference to the 2020 Palghar lynching incident in which two sadhus and a driver were killed.
"In the sadhus killing case in Palghar, the then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's government meted out injustice to them. But the current Maharashtra government will not allow any injustice against any sadhu," said the BJP MLA referring to the 2020 incident.
(With inputs from ANI and PTI.)
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