On Saturday, a 27-year-old Navy sailor named Suraj Kumar Dubey succumbed to his injuries after being abducted and set ablaze in Palghar town of Maharashtra.
As per reports, Dubey was a resident of Ranchi, Jharkhand. He had recently got engaged and was to be married in about three months’ time. He worked as a seaman at INS Agrani training school in Coimbatore. The victim, who was on a leave, had returned to Chennai on January 31 via a flight. At around 9 pm, the Navy sailor was threatened by three people with a revolver and his cellphone was snatched away. The unidentified men then forced Dubey into a white SUV and asked him to pay ₹10 lacs as ransom.
He was kept hostage at an unknown location in Chennai. After being detained there for 3 days, the Navy official was taken to a forest in Vevji village in Talasari Taluka in Palghar near the Maharashtra-Gujarat border on Friday (February 5) morning. He was doused with petrol and set ablaze by the three perpetrators. Dube suffered 90% burn injuries as he lay without clothes in the forest.
The Navy official has been identified as Suraj Kumar Dubey (27), a resident of Ranchi in Jharkhand. A case has been registered against three unidentified persons and a probe has been initiated: Palghar SP Dattatray Shinde
— ANI (@ANI) February 6, 2021
On finding him naked, the locals informed the Vevji police station. Dubey was then admitted to a hospital in Dahanu, where his condition continued to worsen. He was rushed to the military hospital INHS Asvini and was declared dead on arrival.
Case lodged in Palghar murder case, probe commences
A case was registered against 3 unidentified people at the Gholwad police station under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 34 (acts done in furtherance of common intention), 302 (murder), 364 (kidnapping), and 392 (robbery). The police have initiated a probe in the case and are investigating how the Navy sailor was taken 1500kms away to a forest in Palghar from Chennai. The cops are analysing mobile call records and CCTV footage to get leads on the culprits.
While speaking about the case, Palghar SP Dattatray Shinde informed, “Navy officer refused to pay a ransom of Rs 10 lakhs. The locals informed police, then brought in the district civil hospital, later in Mumbai. He was abducted near the Chennai airport. Navy officer refused to pay a ransom of Rs 10 lakhs. The locals informed police, then brought in the district civil hospital, later in Mumbai.”
Father of Navy official demands justice
Meanwhile, the father of the deceased Navy sailor, Mithilesh Dubey, had demanded justice for his son. He said, “I want justice for my son. That’s the message I want to get across via media. He gave a statement before dying that he was kidnapped and imprisoned for three days, being made an object of ransom. He was then brought to Palghar and burnt to death.”
The lynching of two Hindu Sadhus in Palghar
On 16th April 2020, two Sadhus of Juna Akhara, Chikne Maharaj Kalpavrukshagiri (70), and Sushilgiri Maharaj (35) were lynched along with their 30-year old driver by a mob. The incident took place at Gadchinchale village in Palghar district, Maharashtra. They were on their way to Surat, Gujarat. The police were present at the scene, but the allegedly did not try to stop the mob or did anything to save the sadhus.
The fact-finding committee constituted to unravel the truth of the Palghar case, had revealed that the left-wing organizations working in the area have created hatred in the minds of the tribals against Hindus, its religious gurus, and sadhus. Vivek Vichar Manch formed the fact-finding team that comprised of retired judges, lawyers, and police officers.
The fact-finding team’s investigation had also concluded that the growing violence in the area came to the fore after Chrisitan organizations such as the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, Tenancy Organizations, Bhoomi Sena, Adivasi Ekta Parishad, CPM began exerting their influence in the region.