Simdega lynching: Three arrested; BJP terms arrests eyewash

Three people have been arrested in connection with the lynching of a man in Besrabazar village of Simdega district on Tuesday, police said on Friday, adding that searches were being carried out to apprehend the ten others named as accused in the FIR.

Simdega superintendent of police, Shams Tabrez said, “Three named accused were arrested on Thursday. The three belong to the same village as the victim. We are conducting raids for further arrests. We are not revealing the identity of other named accused as it could affect their arrests.”

On Tuesday, Sanju Pradhan, in his 30s, was lynched and set on fire by a mob on suspicion of his involvement in illegal felling of trees and trading in stolen wood.

Sources in the police identified those arrested as Lorhe Pradhan, Tripati Pradhan and Maheshwar Pradhan.

“All three belong to Chhapridipa tola of Bambarkela village, from where the victim also belonged. Lorhe and Tripati are brothers. And these are the three who had alleged that the trees Sanju had cut belonged to them,” said a police officer.

A day after the gruesome lynching, Sanju’s wife Sapna Devi had said on Wednesday that he was killed by the mob in the presence of police officials who had stood by and watched.

Meanwhile, a BJP delegation led by senior state leader Babulal Marandi visited Sanju’s family in his village. After meeting the family, Marandi told reporters that innocent people have been arrested in the case.

“This entire issue of tree cutting is eyewash because that issue was solved last year itself. There is a deep-rooted conspiracy. The entire crime happened in front of police. Police have now arrested members of their (victims’) own family. He (Sanju) has been killed as he had been rasing his voice against illegal activities of some people here. We demand action against the Simdega SP and Kolebira police station in charge,” said Marandi.