Prohibitory orders in Beed until January 28 over protests related to sarpanch murder

Santosh Deshmukh, the sarpanch of the Massajog village in the Beed district, was allegedly abducted, tortured and murdered on December 9. Initial investigations indicate he attempted to prevent an extortion attempt on an energy company involved in a windmill project in the area.

The police have arrested seven accused in the murder case, while another is still at large. Additionally, they have arrested Walmik Karad, an associate of state minister Dhananjay Deshmukh, in a related extortion case.

Dhananjay Deshmukh, the brother of the murdered sarpanch, stated that he would meet with the chief of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to demand a thorough and speedy investigation into the matter. Even though the Maharashtra government removed nine police officers from the SIT probing the Beed sarpanch murder case and replaced them with six CID offices, the victim’s family said they wanted two more officers included in it.

On Monday, Dhananjay, along with several other villagers, climbed a government water tank and sought for Karad to be charged with murder and demanded that he be booked under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). Karad faces charges only in an extortion case.

On Tuesday, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis strongly urged police officers to conduct a free and fair investigation without succumbing to any pressure. Fadnavis underlined the importance of taking strict action against those involved in the killing of a sarpanch in Beed district. He stated, “Any form of highhandedness will not be tolerated.” He assured that the case was under thorough investigation and that there would be no leniency toward the perpetrators of this crime.

On Tuesday, Karad’s mother and supporters demonstrated outside the Beed police station to protest the arrest of her son, whom she claimed was falsely accused.