Mumbai, April 22: Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Wednesday released the list of 101 people who have been arrested in the Palghar lynching incident, saying that the incident occurred due to rumours on social media about child kidnappers and thieves roaming in the area.

Taking to Twitter Deshmukh posted the list of people arrested and wrote, "The list of the 101 arrested in the #Palghar incident. Especially sharing for those who were trying to make this a communal issue." Palghar Mob Lynching Case: Names of Accused to be Released Via WhatsApp, No Muslim in the List, Says Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.

"Palghar mob lynching is a grotesque incident which happened due to rumours on social media about child kidnappers and thieves prowling in the area. A high-level inquiry is going on and meanwhile, people are requested not to fall for rumours and verify the facts from trusted sources," he wrote in another tweet. Meanwhile, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) took over the investigation of three FIRs in the Palghar incident.

While 101 people have been remanded in police custody till April 30, nine others have been sent to a juvenile home. Three people, who were travelling from Kandivali in Mumbai to Gujarat via interior roads of Palghar, were beaten to death on April 17 by Gadchinchle villagers, suspecting them to be thieves, police said. The three men were taken to the hospital where they were declared brought dead, said the police.