NCP's Dhananjay Munde Resigns As Maharashtra Minister

Fadnavis accepted the resignation sent by Munde through his PA. Fadnavis said he has forwarded it to the governor.

Munde, the state food and civil supplies minister, is MLA from Parli in Beed district.

Source : PTI

NCP MLA Dhananjay Munde on Tuesday resigned as Maharashtra minister after Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis asked him to do so amid the backdrop of his close aide Walmik Karad being named as an accused in sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh murder case.

Fadnavis accepted the resignation sent by Munde through his PA. Fadnavis said he has forwarded it to the governor.

Munde, the state food and civil supplies minister, is MLA from Parli in Beed district. He was earlier the guardian minister of Beed. Currently, NCP head Ajit Pawar is the guardian minister of Beed district along with Pune.

What Is The Controversy?

Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed, was abducted, tortured and murdered on December 9 last year allegedly for attempting to stop an extortion bid targeting an energy company in the district.

The state Crime Investigation Department (CID) on February 27 filed a more than 1,200-page chargesheet at a court in Beed district in Deshmukh's murder and two related cases.

Three separate cases - murder of sarpanch, bid to extort money from Avaada company and assault on security guard of the firm - have been registered at Kej police station in Beed. The police have invoked the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against the accused in the cases.

Seven persons have been arrested so far and booked under the MCOCA. One of the accused is still at large.