In Jharkhand, man lynched, body set on fire over tree felling

Police said Sanju Pradhan of Chaprideepa village in Simdega district of Jharkhand was dragged out of his home in the afternoon by a large group of angry fellow villagers after he skipped a meeting called by them to discuss and resolve the tree-felling issue. The mob took Pradhan to nearby Besrajara village, where the meeting had been called, and lynched him near the market.

Officers of Kolebira Police Station said Pradhan had three FIRs lodged against him as he was a former member of the banned CPI (Maoist) group. He was arrested and was recently granted bail. His charred body was recovered in the evening after the villagers allowed the police to reach the spot.

Kolebira Police Station Officer In-charge Rameshwar Bhagat said the villagers had earlier objected to Pradhan cutting trees in the area. “They did not want the tree felling to continue so a meeting was held with the district’s forest department in July last year. A gram sabha was held and it was decided that Pradhan won’t cut trees in the area as it was a important place for them,” he said.

Pradhan, however, again cut trees there recently, which angered the villagers. “A meeting was called again, but Pradhan did not turn up,” Bhagat said. “An angry mob of villagers brought him to Besrajara area and beat him to death. They also set his body on fire. We rushed to the spot after we received information. We could reach the place only after negotiating with the villagers.”

No arrests have been made so far as more than 500 people were involved in the lynching, the police officer said.

Terming the incident as “unfortunate”, Simdega Deputy Commissioner Sushant Gaurav said, “We are trying to ascertain the exact sequence of events that led to the killing. It is true that the villagers considered the area from where the person used to cut trees a sacred place… The administration and police are working to bring the culprits to justice.”