CHHATRAPATI SAMBHAJINAGAR: Slain Massajog sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh’s brother climbed up the village’s overhead tank on Monday demanding MCOCA charges against former Parli municipal council chief Valmik Karad, only to come down after roughly two hours. He said Karad should be named accused in the murder case.
The state CID has invoked the MCOCA provisions against eight accused in the Dec 9 abduction-murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh. Karad, a close aide of NCP minister Dhananjay Munde, and NCP’s Kaij taluka president Vishnu Chate are among the accused named in the Rs2 crore extortion bid case registered on Dec 11, 2024.
On Monday, despite heavy bandobast, Dhananjay Deshmukh managed to give a slip to the police personnel and climb up the water tank. Vaishali, Santosh Deshmukh’s daughter, also climbed up the tank to try and convince her uncle to come down. Dhananjay, however, continued his agitation for about two hours. To ensure the situation did not spiral out of control, Beed superintendent of police Navneet Kanwat visited the spot.
Following SP Kanwat and Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange’s intervention, Dhananjay finally climbed down.
Dhananjay reiterated his demand for making Karad an accused in sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh’s murder case and invoking MCOCA against him. “We are not being informed about this case’s investigation and progress. The SIT personnel did not speak to any of the village residents. Moreover, one of the key accused, Krishna Andhale, is still on the run,” he said.
He also expressed fear that he too might be eliminated by the members and supporters of the accused gang that killed Santosh. In response, Jarange said, “If anything happens to any member of the Deshmukh family, we will make life miserable for Dhananjay Munde.” Speaking to reporters, Kanwat said the top bosses of the state CID have been informed of the Deshmukh family’s fear. The CID’s senior officers will be in Beed soon, he added.
He was threatened before murder: Sarpanch’s widow
Ashwini Deshmukh, the widow of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, stated in her statement to the CID’s SIT that her husband had been threatened by some people days before he was abducted and murdered.
Following her statement, the SIT started checking if any of the arrested accused, including Valmik Karad, ever made a direct or indirect call to Santosh Deshmukh. They are also investigating if the call was made from someone else’s number or if someone personally met and conveyed the threat on behalf of those seeking extortion from the windmill company.