Days after a 32-year old man was stoned and later burnt to death in Simdega district of Jharkhand allegedly for illegally felling trees, three persons were arrested on Thursday and an FIR has been lodged against 38 persons.
“Three accused persons named in the FIR were arrested today and a manhunt has been launched to nab others. No one found involved in the incident, will be spared,” Simdega Superintendent of Police Shams Tabrej said.
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The 13 named and 25 unknown accused persons have been booked for murder, rioting with deadly weapons and unlawful assembly, said the SP. Earlier, Chief Minister Hemant Soren had asked Simdega officials to investigate the incident and inform him after taking legal action.
The victim Sanju Pradhan, 32, was lynched barely 100 metres away from his home near Besrabazar under Kolebira police station of Simdega district on January 4, by a mob of over 100 people allegedly for illegally felling trees for stealing and smuggling wood.
“Four people had come to my residence and took away my husband to Besrabazar and after beating him up, they set him on fire. Is this the punishment for illegally felling trees,” asked a distraught Sapna Devi, Pradhan’s wife. “They killed my husband in presence of some policemen,” Ms. Devi alleged.
The incident had taken place barely a fortnight after the Jharkhand Assembly passed the Prevention of Mob Violence and Mob Lynching Bill, 2021, aimed at providing effective protection of constitutional rights of people and the prevention of mob violence.