A special court in Thane district, on Saturday, granted bail to 89 accused persons in the Palghar mob lynching case, in which two sadhus and their driver were killed.
District judge S B Bahalkar, in his order, granted bail to the 89 accused and will next hear the matter on February 15.
Satish Maneshinde, the special public prosecutor in the case, said, “The ones granted bail on Saturday were arrested subsequently and have not been chargesheeted as yet.” The chargesheet was filed against 126 people, of which 75 persons— who are currently in prison— allegedly had a major role to play in the crime.
Appearing for the accused, advocates Amrut Adhikari and Atul Patil submitted that the applicants had no role to play in the attack and police had arrested them on mere suspicion. The accused also questioned the validity of three FIRs registered in the case.
A total of 201 persons had been arrested in the case that was initially investigated by Palghar police before it was transferred to the CID.
On April 16, 2020, a mob lynched two sadhus — Chikne Maharaj Kalpavrukshagiri (70) and Sushilgiri Maharaj (35) — and their driver Nilesh Telgade (30) at Gadchinchale in Palghar district, 140 km north of Mumbai. The attack took place amid rumours that child-lifters were roaming in the area during the lockdown.