Purulia: Three sadhus from Uttar Pradesh were allegedly beaten up by a mob in West Bengal's Purulia district en route to the Gangasagar Mela after locals suspected them of being kidnappers. Twelve people have been arrested in this connection so far.
The incident took place on Thursday in Gaurangadi under Kashipur police station area of Purulia. The three sadhus had hired a vehicle to go to Gangasagar for Makar Sankranti. While the sadhus were inquiring about the route, some locals became suspicious of the trio and suspecting them to be kidnappers, they allegedly assaulted them.
The mob accused the sadhus of trying to kidnap three girls who were crossing the road on bicycles. However, the sadhus claimed that they had not tried to harm the girls but the latter got scared by seeing them.
Following the chaos, a team from Kashipur police station reached the spot and took the sadhus to the police station. Later around 50 to 60 villagers approached Jyotirmoy Singh Mahato, Purulia MP and BJP State General Secretary to rescue the sadhus. The MP went to the police station on Friday and intervened.
Finally, the sadhus were released and are being taken to the Bara Kali Mandir in Chawkbazar in Purulia on Saturday. The three would be sent to Gangesagar, district BJP sources said. The BJP also slammed the state government over the assault on sadhus and questioned the law and order situation here.
Purulia police said that there was a misunderstanding between the sadhus and the locals due to language problem. Since the girls ran away in fear, the locals mistook them for kidnappers, he said.
Read more
