Centre asks states to appoint nodal officer, task force in each district to check lynching

The Centre has asked all states and Union territories to appoint a superintendent of police (SP)-level nodal officer in each district, set up a special task force to gather intelligence and monitor social media contents in order to curb lynching incidents.

The home ministry advisory, the second of its kind to be issued in a month, is based on the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court on July 17 to check lynching incidents. The ministry’s recommendations come close on the heels of a man being beaten to death in Rajasthan’s Alwar district on the suspicion of being a cow smuggler.

“Incidents of violence and lynching by mobs in some parts of the country fuelled by various kinds of rumours and unverified news such as child lifting, theft, cattle smuggling etc, are a matter of serious concerns. Such instances of persons taking the law in their own hands run against the basic tenets of the rule of law,” the advisory sent to chief secretaries and director generals of police (DGPs) of the states and UTs said.

All state governments, UT administrations and their law enforcement agencies are requested to implement the directions of the Supreme Court in letter and spirit. A detailed report on the action taken in the matter may please be sent to the ministry at the earliest,” it read.

The advisory was issued by the ministry after it formed a committee of secretaries on Monday to recommend measures to control incidents of mob violence.

The ministry added that if a police or other district administration official fails to comply with the directions “to prevent, investigate and facilitate expeditious trial” of an instance of mob violence then it should be considered an act of deliberate negligence and misconduct, and strong action must be taken against the official concerned.

Earlier in the month, the Supreme Court had told the states to identify districts, sub-divisions and/or villages where instances of lynching and mob violence have been reported in the recent past It directed states’ secretaries to issue directions to nodal officers to ensure that the officer-in-charge of the police stations of the identified areas are extra cautious.