Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Feb 27 (PTI) The Maharashtra Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Thursday filed a chargesheet of more than 1,200 pages in the sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh murder case and two related cases in a court in Beed district.
The murder of Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed, on December 9 last year has triggered a political firestorm in the state as NCP minister Dhananjay Munde’s close aide Walmik Karad was arrested in connection with the related extortion case.
Deshmukh was abducted, tortured and murdered allegedly for attempting to stop an extortion bid targeting an energy company in Beed. While seven individuals have been arrested for the crime, the primary accused, Krushna Andhale, remains at large.
“The CID filed a chargesheet in sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh murder case and two related cases. The chargesheet runs into more than 1,200 pages,” a public prosecutor told PTI.
Three separate cases – murder of sarpanch, bid to extort money from Avaada company and assault on security guard of the firm – were registered at the Kej police station in Beed. The police have invoked Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against the accused in the murder case.
Beed MP and NCP (SP) leader Bajrang Sonawane, however, questioned the hurry in filing the chargesheet in the sarpanch murder and other cases.
“Why are the police in so much hurry to file the chargesheet? I am stunned to see all this…,” he said.
Minister Munde is under fire from the opposition and some Mahayuti colleagues after his close aide Walmik Karad was held in the extortion case linked to sarpanch murder. However, Munde has maintained he has no connection with the sarpanch case. PTI AW NP
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