Four suspicious persons saved as Palghar mob takes them to cops rather than resorting to violence

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• Four from Gujarat saved from mob violence in Dandi after police intervened
• Three booked for stalking and unauthorized photography of minors
• Police urge public not to act on kidnapping gang rumors

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Four persons from Gujarat were saved on Friday morning from a potentially violent situation reminiscent of the 2020 Palghar mob lynching due to the presence of mind of local villagers and prompt police intervention, an official said.

The incident unfolded at 10 am at the Dandi bus stop where four bedsheet sellers were spotted taking pictures of two 13-year-old girls and also asking them about their whereabouts, he said.

"Suspecting the four to be part of a kidnapping gang, a group of villagers gathered and took the suspects to the Dandi Gram Panchayat office for questioning. They did not manhandle the four. Teams from the Satpati police station and the Boisar division arrived at the scene and took the four individuals into custody," a Palghar police release said.

The police have registered a case against three persons, including two juveniles and one woman, under section 78 (stalking) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 12 of the POCSO Act for unauthorized photography and suspicious behaviour toward minors, it added.

One person in the group has been arrested, while the juveniles have been issued a warning, the official said.

The release said 192 child-related crimes have been registered in the district in 2025, of which 182 children have been recovered while probe is on in the remaining 10.

"In the majority of these cases, the disappearances were linked to domestic disputes or teenage elopements rather than organized kidnapping gangs. We appeal to the citizens not to believe in rumours of child-kidnapping gangs. Do not take the law into your own hands. As seen in Dandi, the right course of action is to inform the police immediately," the release stated.

In the 2020 incident in Gadchingale, three persons, including two sadhus, were lynched by a mob of hundreds suspecting them to be child-lifters. The case hit national headlines.