Acting on Supreme Court directives, the Maharashtra government has appointed nodal officers in districts and cities to take measures to prevent incidents of lynching and mob violence.

District superintendents of police (DSPs) and deputy commissioners of police (DCPs) (in commissionerates) will act as nodal officers across the state to prevent such incidents, a government order issued yesterday said. The move comes against the backdrop of lynching of five men, belonging to the nomadic Nath Gosavi community, on suspicion of child lifting in Dhule district of north Maharashtra on July 1.