In a heart-wrenching incident, three men including two Hindu saints were mercilessly lynched to death by an angry mob of 200 people in Maharashtra’s Palghar district on 16 April 2020.
The shocking incident came to light 2 days later after clips shot by some of the attackers went viral on social media. The deceased men, in the incident, were identified as Sushilgiri Maharaj, Chikne Maharaj Kalpavriksha Giri and Nilesh Telwade.
According to sources, three men reportedly from Kandivali in Mumbai were going to Gujarat’s Surat by car to attend a funeral on 16 April 2020. The car was stopped by a mob in Palghar district and the trio was dragged out of the vehicle and beaten to death on suspicion that they were thieves. A police vehicle from the Kasa police station was also attacked and policemen were beaten up – injuring police officials.
In the video clip, the angry mob around 200 people was in no mood to listen to them while they were constantly trying to plead with them. When police personnel intervened to rescue them, the angry mob started assaulting cops. Following this, Republic TV founder Arnab Goswami accused the interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi of being silent on the Palghar mob lynching incident.
Arnab Goswami, who is known as a fearless speaker, alleged that Sonia Gandhi did not show any sympathy on the Palghar mob lynching incident. “I would like to ask the country, would the country had remained silent if Maulvis or Christian Padres would have been targeted the way Hindu saints were? Would Italy’s Antonia Maino (Sonia Gandhi) have remained silent then? I would like to tell you, if the victims had been Christian padres, Sonia Gandhi, who had come from Rome, would not have remained silent on the issue,” he yelled.
The journalist called Sonia Gandhi by her real name “Antonio Maino” which has apparently infuriated congress workers across the country. Later, Over 150 FIRs were filed against the Republic TV editor by Congress leaders and supporters and he received a lot of flak from Congress. The following day, the editor and his wife Samyabrata Ray were attacked by two unknown persons.
Shocking attack on journalist Goswami sparked massive controversy across the country. The incident took place when Goswami was returning home along with his wife from their studios in Lower Parel. Later, the editor shared a video in which he held Congress responsible for the attack and said that he still stands by his comments and will keep on raising questions against Congress President for not speaking on the lynching happened in Maharashtra’s Palghar district.
Goswami resorted to the supreme court, challenging the multiple FIRs filed against him. Goswami, in his petition, said he had no choice but to approach the apex court because it would not be easy for him to individually approach each court, given the number of complaints and FIRs registered against him.
Mumbai police, thereafter served two notices to the journalist and asked to pay a visit to the police station. The news journalist was called for interrogation.Mr. Sujay Kantawala, Arnab’s lawyer, was with him throughout the interrogation. The interrogation was with regards to his remarks he made against Sonia Gandhi. He clearly said that he stands by his comments during the interrogation. He further said that I would keep questioning until UPA chairman condemns murder of 2 Hindu sadhus.
The journalist made it clear that everything he has said is correct. He answered all questions asked during the interrogation. He completely cooperated with the investigation. Goswami also said that he is completely confident that truth will prevail on this and any attempts to intimidate me would not work. “I am grateful for the Mumbai Police for hearing me today. And I am grateful to my lawyer Mr. Sujay Kantawala,” said Goswami.
