Armed with weapons and drones, 150 cops are hunting for hundreds of tribals who have gone into hiding in the dense forest and mountains after lynching two priests and their driver in Palghar on Thursday. Except a handful of women, almost everyone from nearly 500 houses in Gadchinchale village, where the incident occurred, are on the run.

The drones have recorded footage of the routes they took to go into hiding in the dense forest and the mountainous terrain. "It was an arduous task to search for the absconding tribals in the hilly region. So, we took the help of drone cameras and traced them. Leftover food, empty water bottles, clothes, etc, were seen in the footage, indicating that the tribals took this route," Palghar district Superintendent of Police Gaurav Singh told mid-day.