Shiv Sena secretary and spokesperson Kiran Pawaskar has said that Uddhav Thackeray halted the transfer of the Palghar Sadhu lynching case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) when he was the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on the orders of Congress scion Rahul Gandhi.
On 16th April 2020, two Sadhus associated with the Juna Akhara, 70-year-old Kalpavrishka Giri Maharaj and 35-year-old Sushil Giri Maharaj were lynched to death by a mob of over 100 people while they were on the way from Mumbai to Gujarat along with their driver Nilesh Telgadewere, 30, to give Samadhi to another Sadhu.
Videos of the incident showed how the Sadhus were brutally lynched in the presence of the police who not only watched as a mute spectator but handed them over to the mob.
“There’s evidence suggesting that under pressure from Gandhi, Thackeray agreed not to transfer the case to the CBI,” Pawaskar said.
He said, “The murder was committed while Thackeray was sleeping, and the (then) Home Minister (Anil Deshmukh) was busy collecting money, leading to suspicions that the sadhus were murdered at the behest of the Maharashtra government. At that time, Thackeray had given a tepid response and had kept the investigation machinery idle. The government’s reluctance to hand over the Sadhu murder case to the CBI prevented a timely investigation.”
Pawaskar added that the police made no significant progress even after three to four months. “It was because of the Thackeray-led government’s (MVA) inaction that the Akhara leaders demanded the transfer of the case to the CBI. However, Thackeray’s administration opposed transferring the case to the CBI.”
Pawaskar said that only after Eknath Shinde assumed the role of the Chief Minister on 30th June 2022, after nearly two years, a swift decision was reached regarding this issue. “Shinde decided to transfer the Sadhu murder case to the CBI,” Pawaskar said. He added that the Maha Yuti government also announced a financial aid of Rs 5 lakh to the families of the deceased Sadhus.
Notably, five months after the incident, the then Maha Vikas Aghadi government led by Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray had submitted an affidavit in the apex court wherein it had opposed the transfer of the Palghar lynching case to the CBI.
The affidavit was submitted days after the Supreme Court sought a response from the then Uddhav Thackeray government on the petitions seeking a CBI and NIA probe into the case of the brutal lynching of Hindu Sadhus in Palghar.
Several reports that emerged in the wake of the bloodcurdling lynching hinted that the brutal murder of the Hindu sadhus may not have been an act of spontaneity but a part of a broader conspiracy designed to eliminate the Hindu priests.
An FIR into the case revealed an ultra-left connection to the lynching as it mentioned that a CPI(M) gram panchayat member had allegedly gathered a mob armed with rods and stones to kill the sadhus.
“The modus operandi by cutting trees and placing boulders to obstruct movement is also a common stratagem used by Naxalites against their preys,” the had FIR mentioned.
Reports also emerged that the killing of the Sadhus may have been intentional and politically motivated. The involvement of Christian Missionary organisations and some local NCP leaders and leftists were also suspected.
Four days after the incident, the case was transferred to the CID, even as demands for a CBI inquiry into the matter steadily gained momentum.
