What is the Beed sarpanch murder case over which Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde has resigned?

The Indian Express takes a look at the case and how Dhananjay Munde got embroiled in it.

Murder of Santosh Deshmukh

Santosh Deshmukh, 45, BJP supporter and sarpanch of Massajog village in Kaiz tehsil was allegedly kidnapped in broad daylight on December 9 last year, shoved into a black Scorpio, and assaulted for around three hours before he succumbed. The body was dumped on a road near his village.

Post-mortem indicated that Deshmukh died “due to haemorrhage and shock due to multiple injuries”. He is survived by his elderly parents, wife, and two children, aged 13 and 17.

What led to the murder?

Police investigation so far suggests that the murder was allegedly committed after a brawl between Deshmukh and four people on December 6 at the site of a windmill energy project executed by Avada Energy in Massajog village.

According to the police, on December 6, four people, including accused Sudarshan and Pratik Ghule, went to the project site and allegedly abused and assaulted a security guard and the project manager after they were stopped from entering.

The security guard, who belongs to Massajog village, alerted Deshmukh since he was the sarpanch. Deshmukh rushed to the site along with a few villagers and the two groups engaged in a brief clash, his family members, villagers and the police told The Indian Express.

Later that evening, the project manager lodged an extortion complaint with the police, based on which an FIR was filed. Vishnu Chate, Karad and another person were accused of demanding Rs 2 crore from the firm that is installing a windmill in the district. Chate was the chief of NCP’s Beed district unit. The accused were arrested and released on bail.

According to the FIR registered at Kaiz police station by Deshmukh’s cousin Shivraj, he was heading to the village in a vehicle along with the sarpanch on December 9 when they were intercepted by a black Scorpio near Dongaon toll plaza around 3.15 pm. Six persons with rods, stones and beer bottles exited the SUV, assaulted both of them and forced Deshmukh into their vehicle, the FIR said.

Shivraj said he alerted Deshmukh’s brother Dhananjay over the phone and asked him to reach the police station to lodge a complaint. Around 6.30 pm, the police found Deshmukh’s body dumped in the area.

“As soon as we got to know about the abduction, I rushed to the police station. The police team started looking, but they could not trace him. Meanwhile, since Shivraj had recognised the accused as supporters of Vishnu Chate, I called him directly. He initially said he would look into it and later called me saying my brother would return in some time,” Dhananjay claimed.

“In two hours, we spoke 36 times over the phone but my brother did not return. During this time, I kept requesting the police to trace my brother, but they took it lightly. They said I should continue to be in touch with Chate and inform the police once he returns. After four hours, we received information that my brother’s body had been found. It was only then that the police took the official complaint,” Dhananjay alleged.

However, a senior police officer has denied the family’s claims of laxity in police action.

How is this connected to Dhananjay Munde?

According to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Maharashtra Police, which is probing the murder, Deshmukh was abducted and killed for trying to thwart an extortion attempt by the accused from a windmill company in Beed.

Eight persons, including Karad, were arrested and charged in connection with the murder. The others are Sudarshan Ghule, Vishnu Chate, Jayram Chate, Mahesh Kedar, Sudhir Sangle, Prateek Ghule and Siddharth Sonawane. All are currently in judicial custody.

One more accused, Krishna Andhale, remains at large. The police said a supplementary chargesheet will be filed against him after his arrest. Meanwhile, local residents have raised allegations that Andhale too may have been killed.

A total of three cases have been registered in all – a case of extortion in which Karad, Chate and Sudarshan Ghule have been booked; a case of assault for the December 6 attack on a windmill company staffer and security guard; and the murder case.

Karad was earlier accused only in the extortion case, but the FIR was registered on December 11, two days after the murder of Deshmukh. He is accused of attempting to extort Rs 2 crore from staffers of Avada Green Energy Company.

The murder has since rocked Maharashtra politics with the Opposition and even ruling alliance leaders demanding the resignation of Dhananjay Munde who is an MLA from Parli constituency, owing to his proximity with Karad.

Following the uproar, an SIT was formed by clubbing all three cases and the accused were charged under stringent provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).

The police had claimed in court that Karad was in contact with Vishnu Chate, who was arrested earlier, and Ghule on December 9 when Deshmukh was abducted and tortured to death, which is why they suspect that he is involved in the murder. The police submitted the call detail records to the court to establish the links between Karad and the other accused.

The SIT had also informed the court of the suspicion that the extortion case and the murder were linked to each other and Deshmukh may have been killed because he became a hurdle in the extortion bid.