Mumbai: The Palghar police nabbed as many as 101 people and detained nine minors in connection to lynching of three men, on Friday.

In a shocker during lockdown, three persons were lynched to death and some policemen were injured by a huge mob of villagers outside Gandchinchle village after they were suspected to be robbers, the police said here on Friday.

At least three vehicles, including two belonging to the police, were damaged in the incident and additional forces were rushed to the site to control the situation.

According to an official, the three victims, including the driver, were proceeding from Nashik to Mumbai when they were accosted by the mob and questioned as the villagers assumed that the three were child lifters.

The mob, said to be around 200, grossly outnumbered the police and soon started assaulting the three victims with stones, sticks and other objects.

The three have been identified as Sushilgiri Maharaj, Chikne Maharaj and the driver, Nilesh Telgade.

They were later pronounced dead and their bodies have been sent for autopsy to a local government hospital, a Palghar Police spokesperson informed IANS. Even after three days of the episode, no probe has been initiated.

Senior officers had said that an inquiry would be conducted to find out what steps the police had taken to help the three victims after allegations that the police ran away from the spot, reports Indian Express.

Gaurav Singh, Superintendent of Police, Palghar, said that investigations into the murders of the three men have so far been focused on identifying the sources of the rumours spread in Gadchinchle village in Dahanu taluka.

“An inquiry will soon be conducted to ascertain what precautions were taken by policemen who reached the scene and had taken the victims into the police van,” he told Indian Express.

A video of the incident shows a mob dragging the deceased out of the police van and assaulting them with sticks and stones, while some police personnel are seen running away to safety instead of attempting to shield the deceased from the mob’s fury.