Beed Sarpanch Murder: Maharashtra Minister Demands Death Sentence For Close Aid Accused In Case

Maharashtra NCP minister Dhananjay Munde has demanded a fast-track trial and death penalty for those responsible for the murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh.

Walmik Karad, a close aide of Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde, surrendered before the CID in Beed Sarpanch murder case.

Source : PTI

Mumbai, Jan 2 (PTI) Maharashtra NCP minister Dhananjay Munde on Thursday said those who killed Santosh Deshmukh, the sarpanch of a village in Beed district, should be tried in a fast-track court and hanged to death.

Talking to reporters after the state cabinet meeting, Munde said the state Crime Investigation Department (CID) was conducting a probe into the case in the right manner.

Santosh Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed and a popular grassroots leader in the district, was abducted and brutally killed on December 9, allegedly for opposing an extortion bid by some persons who had demanded money from a windmill company.

Walmik Karad, a close associate of Munde, surrendered before the Crime Investigation Department (CID) in Pune on Tuesday in connection with an extortion case linked to the sarpanch's murder.

The opposition has been demanding Karad's arrest in the murder case.

"Those who killed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh should be tried in a fast-track court and hanged to death. I was the one who, during the winter session of the legislature in Nagpur, demanded the trial in the fast-track court," Munde said.

On the opposition's demand for his resignation for a fair probe in Deshmukh's killing, the food and civil supplies minister said, "There can be no influence from my side as a minister, which is why the probe has been handed over to the CID." The Maharashtra government on Wednesday formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) for the probe into Deshmukh's murder.

The SIT will be headed by CID's Deputy Inspector General Basavraj Teli, said an order issued by the state Home department.

Earlier, the government had handed over the probe into the murder and related cases of extortion and an assault on a security guard to the CID.

During the recently-held winter session of the Maharashtra legislature, the opposition alleged Karad was the "mastermind" of the murder, though he claimed that he was being accused falsely for political vendetta. PTI PR GK

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