A 30-year-old man was killed by a mob of villagers in the Simdega district of Jharkhand on Tuesday, 4 January, allegedly over felling trees for stealing wood.
Sanju Pradhan's body was set on fire after he was lynched near the Besrajara Bazar area of the district, news agency PTI reported, citing the police.
According to an Indian Express report, Pradhan had elicited the ire of the villagers after he cut trees at a place which they considered sacred as per their tribal customs.
When he skipped a meeting call by the villagers to discuss the tree felling issue, a mob had forced entry into his home Chaprideepa village and had subsequently killed him. Over 500 people were involved in the incident.
Officer in-charge of Kolebira police station Rameshwar Bhagat also indicated that Pradhan had three FIRs against him, over his links with the banned CPI (Maoist) group.
“As per the initial probe, around 500 villagers were present when the incident occurred. We have recovered the half burnt body of Sanju Pradhan, who had criminal antecedents. He had three cases registered against him for links with Maoists and had been to jail in connection with these cases,” police officer Bhagat was quoted as saying by The Hindustan Times.
No arrests have been made so far.
Meanwhile, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has directed the Simdega Police to probe the matter and take appropriate action as per the law.
The incident occurred barely two weeks after the Jharkhand Assembly on 21 December passed the Prevention of Mob Violence and Mob Lynching Bill, 2021. The legislation aims to provide “effective security” to people, protect constitutional rights and create a deterrence for mob violence.
(With inputs from PTI, The Indian Express and The Hindustan Times)
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