Garhwa police arrested 21 people involved in an incident where three women and a man were allegedly stripped, paraded naked and thrashed on suspiscion of practicing witchcraft by a mob of around 50 people.

The incident took place at Narayanpur village on Thursday night, police said. After the incident Garhwa SP Khotre Srikant Suresh Rao constituted a police team led by SDPO Bahman Tuti to arrest the accused.

"We have arrested 21 people involved in the incident after continuous raids", the SDPO said. Two people were arrested on the day of the incident. "Soon after receiving information, a police team reached the village and found around 50 people present at the spot," he added

The women and the man were accused of practicing witchcraft after two daughters of one Bali Rajwar, a resident of the village, fell sick, police said.

Rajwar's family members. along with Vikas Kumar Saw, Bablu Ram, Rajad Paswan, Ravi Kumar Ram and Raju Ram, among others, allegedly stripped the victims, thrashed them and then paraded them throughout the area, as per the case lodged by the police.

The case was lodged under sections of 354/354b/323 IPC and 3/4 Prevention of Witchcraft Act.

All arrested have been sent to judicial custody and the police are conducting raids to arrest the rest.