Palghar lynching not communal, says CM Uddhav Thackeray

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday broke his silence on the brutal Palghar mob lynching - in which two sadhus were killed, along with their driver - saying the incident was not communal and that the government would not spare those trying to give it a communal colour.

“I am telling this with complete humility and with full responsibility, there is no communal incident in his. It happened due to a misunderstanding. There were rumours being circulated (of child lifters). .. The police too were beaten up,”said Uddhav.

Referring to criticism of his government's handling of the situation, Uddhav said that such incidents had happened earlier in Maharashtra too. “ People are asking what action have we taken in this incident. We have taken action. We are not sitting idle. We have arrested 100 people, nine of them are minors. We have arrested the five prime accused. Rest assured, we will not spare any of them,” said Uddhav.

The chief minister also hinted that the Dadra Nagar Haveli under the Centre’s administration should bear some blame for the incident as the men were going to Gujarat and were turned away from Dadra Nagar Haveli.

“ The Dadar Nagar Haveli authorities perhaps should not have turned them away and should have in stead kept them or sent them home during the day break, there should have been co ordination,” he said.

The chief minister said the state government would not tolerate any attempt to give the incident a communal colour and said that that the government is keeping a watch on those who "are trying to light a communal fire" to this incident.

Uddhav said he had spoken to Home Minister Amit Shah who "agrees that there was nothing communal" in the incident. He said UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath had also called him up to inquire about the incident.