Amid a furore over Jharkhand Police dropping the murder charge against the accused in the Tabrez Ansari lynching case, Union minister G Kishan Reddy this morning said the law will takes it own course.
He termed the incident "unfortunate" and said it was a criminal act.
"I don't know what had happened in the court. I want that whatever had happened, whatever criminal act had happened, guilty should be punished," he told reporters on the sidelines of an event in New Delhi.
Mr Reddy said he would talk to the state government on the matter.
Asked about the police scaling down the charges against the 13 accused from murder to capable homicide, he said "law will take its own course".
The Union minister of state for home dismissed the suggestion that alleged incidents of lynching have been taking place only in BJP ruled states.
"There were similar incidents in West Bengal too. So many such cases have happened in the past, not all (have been) in the BJP ruled states," he said.
Mr Reddy said even Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that such incidents should not take place anywhere.
The 13 accused were arrested in connection with the death of 24-year-old Mr Ansari, who was thrashed by a mob for alleged theft on June 17 in Jharkhand's Saraikela-Kharsawan district.
Videos had gone viral showing Mr Ansari being beaten up while tied to a pole and being forced to chant "Jai Shri Ram".
On Tuesday, police have dropped murder charges against all the 13 accused in the lynching case of Mr Ansari.
The chargesheet against two of the 13 arrested was filed in a local court and the investigation against the rest of the accused will soon be completed, a police official said.
Man Poses As Matrimonial Site Representative, Dupes A Person Of Rs 5 Lakh Jharkhand Chief Minister Halts Police Recruitment Drive For 3 Days After 11 Die 11 Die During Physical Tests Of Police Recruitment Drive In Jharkhand: Cops Police Case Registered Against Rahul Gandhi For "Injuring" 2 BJP MPs Pakistan Tries To Arm-Twist China Over Gwadar Port. The Plan Backfires. "Human Error" Caused Chopper Crash That Killed CDS Bipin Rawat: Panel Report "No Such Organisation Called Kuki-Zo Council": Manipur Government Pak Developing Missiles That Eventually Could Hit US: White House Official Camera Found in Changing Room Of Bhopal MRI Centre, Footage Seized Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.