"Jharkhand is not the lynchistan as it is made out to be," Raghubar Das said.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das on Wednesday insisted that the perception that his state was a hotbed of mob killing is wrong and the government has taken action in such cases. Several cases of mob killings have been reported from Jharkhand over the last two years. One of them, the killing of Tabrez Ansari, made headlines across the country.
"Jharkhand is not the lynchistan as it is made out to be. But in fact, we constituted special courts to convict those responsible," Mr Das told NDTV in an exclusive interview.
After reports of several cases of hate crimes in the state this year, the opposition had launched a concerted attack on Jharkhand's BJP government, accusing it of being unable to enforce law and order.
CPM's Brinda Karat had said it is "extremely clear that there is no law and order in Jharkhand".
"After one instance of lynching, the government made it clear that they are not with the victim but with the perpetrators. Once this message spread, our dear Jharkhand is now known as ''Lynchistan'' in the entire country," Ms Karat was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
The killing of Tabrez Ansari in Jharkhand's Seraikela Kharsawan this June made headlines after cellphone videos of his torture at the hands of a mob were widely circulated.
The 24-year-old - accused of stealing a motor cycle -- was tied to a pole for hours, beaten up with rods and forced to chant "Jai Shri Ram". He died in a hospital four days later.
Initially, the police dropped murder charges against the accused and converted it to culpable homicide not amounting to murder, arguing that the post mortem report said he died of cardiac arrest.
The murder charge was re-instated following widespread public outrage.
In September, a 34-year-old man was beaten to death in Khunti district, 34 km from capital Ranchi, over suspicion of selling beef. Two other men accompanying Kelem Barla were attacked and injured.