Lok Sabha elections 2024: PM Modi attacks Uddhav Thackeray, MVA allies over killing of sadhus in Palghar

Parbhani/Palghar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday raked up the sensational killing of sadhus in the Palghar district of Maharashtra as he led the BJP-led NDA’s charge against the opposition.

Addressing a rally in Parbhani in the Marathwada region, Modi launched a scathing attack at the erstwhile Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government which was in power in Maharashtra from November 2019-June 2022.

“…should those people get a space in Maharashtra who made fun after the killing of sadhus in Palghar?…,” asked Modi.

Before Modi, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had spoken about the Palghar episode.

Ahead of the Phase-1 polls in Wardha, Yogi Adityanath has said on April 8, “Such an incident would never have happened in Uttar Pradesh…if it had happened, they would have been hung upside down.”

“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,” said Shiv Sena secretary and spokesperson Kiran Pawaskar, in a statement on April 13.

According to Pawaskar, as the police made no significant progress even after three to four months, leaders of the sadhus approached the Supreme Court in June 2020 seeking justice. “It was because of the Thackeray-led (Maha Vikas Aghadi) government's 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,” he said.

Pawaskar said that on June 30, 2022, after nearly two years, Eknath Shinde assumed the role of Chief Minister of the state, and a swift decision was taken.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, two Nashik-based sadhus, Kalpavriksha Giri Maharaj (70), Sushil Giri Maharaj (35) - belonging to the Varanasi-headquartered Shri Panch Dashnam Juna Akhara, the biggest order of sadhus in India, along with their driver Nilesh Telgade (30), were brutally lynched to death on 16 April, 2020 in the Gadchinchale village in Dahanu tehsil of Palghar district, nearly 120 kms from downtown Mumbai.

The Kasa police station in Palghar initially registered the FIR, but later the probe was handed over to the state CID.

Once the Shinde government assumed office, the case was handed over to the CBI.

Over 250 persons have been arrested in the case.