Maharashtra lynching: Kin of five victims refuse to take bodies
Dhule (Maharashtra), July 2 : The shocked families of five persons who were lynched on Sunday after being suspected to be kidnappers refused to accept their bodies on Monday, seeking justice and compensation here.
Simultaneously, the Congress targeted the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government and police, blaming them for failure to prevent the incident.
On Sunday afternoon, a group of around half a dozen mendicants (bhikshuk) belonging to a nomadic community known as 'Nath Gosavi' had deboarded a state transport bus in Rainpada tribal village.
Mistaking them to be child-lifters, a large number of villagers attacked them with sticks, stones and left them to die near the gram panchayat office.
Their bodies were later shifted to Pimpalner hospital for autopsy and police swung into action to detain or arrested around two dozen suspects, officials said.
Condemning the incident, State Congress President Ashok Chavan today asked "whether there is rule of law or jungle raj in Maharashtra".
He said that in recent weeks there have been several such incidents across Maharashtra including Aurangabad. In Jalna, the local BJP legislator was involved in a similar attack on some persons.
"Rumour-mongering aided by social media is creating panic among the people. They attack any unknown persons who are seriously injured or killed in the mob violence. The government must take strong action," Chavan urged.
The distraught families of the victims on Monday staged a sit-in protest demanding police action against the culprits involved in the lynching and suitable compensation.
In the Dhule incident, the victims had reportedly come for the weekly village market and were moving around. One of them was seen speaking with a young girl and they were mistaken as kidnappers, prompting the crowd to brutally attack them.
The five who succumbed to their injured were identified as Bharat Shankar Bhosale, Dadarao Shankar Bhosale, Bharat Shankar Malwe, Agnu Ingole and Raju Bhosale.
Members of the Nath Gosavi community staged a noisy protest outside the Satara district collectorate office demanding justice for the victims and punishment to the perpetrators of the heinous crime.
Minister of State for Home Deepak Kesarkar who visited the Rainpada village has assured strict action against the culprits and urged people not to fall for rumour-mongering posts circulated on social media.
Meanwhile, various district police headquarters have also urged people not to believe in rumour mongering.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
