 "How sarpanch’s gruesome murder forced Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde to resign")
Maharashtra Food and Civil Supplies Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Dhananjay Munde, who had been under pressure over the murder of popular Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, tendered resignation on Tuesday, citing ill health.
His resignation comes a day after the photos of the brutal murder, attached with the court chargesheet, took over the internet, sparking an uproar.
Munde had been facing the heat for over three months after his close aide Walmik Karad was arrested in the murder case.
Here’s all we know about it.
The resignation
Maharashtra Minister Dhananjay Munde shared a post on X, saying, “It has been my firm demand since day one that the accused in the brutal murder of the late Santosh Deshmukh of Massajog in Beed district should be given the strictest punishment. Seeing the photos that surfaced yesterday, I was deeply saddened.”
He said, “The investigation into this matter has been completed and the charge sheet has been filed in the court. Also, a judicial inquiry is proposed. With respect to my morality and as my health has not been good for the past few days, the doctor has advised me to undergo treatment for the next few days, therefore, also for medical reasons, I have submitted my resignation from the Cabinet.”
On Monday night, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had met Munde, top NCP leaders and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar at his official residence, as per The Indian Express.
The brutal murder
Beed Sarpanch and a BJP supporter, Santosh Deshmukh, 44, was allegedly abducted in broad daylight on December 9 and tortured for three hours before he succumbed to injuries. His body, riddled with injuries and bearing signs of extreme brutality, was found dumped on the roadside.
According to PTI, which cited an official, Deshmukh was beaten up by the accused from 3.30 pm to 6 pm by using a gas pipe of 41-inch length with a handle with black string, white pipe, an iron rod with five clutch wires, wooden sticks, a “fighter and dharkatti” (both sharp weapons).
Post-mortem reports suggested that Deshmukh died “due to haemorrhage and shock due to to multiple injuries.”
Seven men, including Munde’s close aide, Walmik Karad, have been arrested so far, while one person, identified as Krishna Andhale, has been declared wanted.
After constant pressure from the opposition and the family, the state government asked the CID to charge Karad under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
The extortion demand
According to the police investigation, the murder was allegedly committed because Deshmukh attempted to foil an extortion bid on an energy company named Avada Energy.
Deshmukh and four individuals, including Sudarshan and Pratik Ghule, got into a fight at the Massajog village project site on December 6.
After being prevented from entering, they allegedly mistreated and attacked the project manager and a security guard.
Deshmukh was informed about this by the security guard. According to The Indian Express, he hurried to the scene with a few villagers, and the two groups got into a brief fight.
Later in the evening, the project manager filed a formal complaint against the police for extortion. Karad, Vishnu Chate, and another individual were charged with extorting Rs 2 crore from the company constructing a windmill in the district.
Chate was the NCP unit in Beed’s chief. After being taken into custody, those charged were released on bail.
On December 9, Deshmukh and his cousin, Shivraj, were heading to the village when their vehicle was intercepted by a black Scorpio at around 3 pm near Dongaon toll plaza.
According to the FIR, six people with rods, stones, and beer bottles got out of the SUV, attacked the two of them, and pushed Deshmukh into their car.
Shivraj called Dhananjay, Deshmukh’s brother, to inform him and ask that he go to the police station to file a report.
Police found Deshmukh’s body dumped nearby about 6.30 pm.
The viral videos
The accused reportedly recorded 15 videos, clicked eight photos and even made two video calls, police officials said in a chargesheet, documenting the brutality endured by the victim.
The videos, whose duration ranges between two second and 2.04 minutes, were recorded on a smartphone owned by the accused, Mahesh Kedar.
In one of the videos, five accused persons, including Sudarshan Ghule, are seen thrashing Deshmukh with a white pipe and a wooden stick besides kicking and punching him.
In another video, accused Sudarshan Ghule is seen forcing Deshmukh to chant that “Sudarshan Ghule is the father of all.” Another accused urinates on the sarpanch who is seen bleeding profusely, according to the chargesheet.
As Deshmukh is tortured, wanted accused Krishna Andhale makes two WhatsApp video calls from his mobile phone, first at 5.14 pm and the second one at 5.26 pm, the chargesheet said without identifying the person to whom the calls were made.
Police have recovered 15 broken pieces of a white pipe from the spot, which was hard and blunt, the official said.
Criticism
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said Munde’s resignation was not enough.
“The real need is to dismiss the government. The state of law and order has deteriorated. Nobody can monitor it. When the photos of the murder came out, entire Maharashtra was stunned. The state has never seen such cruelty. The government knew about it for months, but it never acted till today,” he said, according to another report by The Indian Express, adding, “We don’t know what tied Fadnavis down. Why did he take so much time to ask Munde to resign? If the sarpanch’s family is not given justice, it will be a big blow on the face of Maharashtra. A revised chargesheet needs to be filed in the murder case and Dhananjay Munde should be made a co-accused.”
NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal said, “The big question is to find out how much role he has played in the brutal murder.”
Beed MLA and NCP (SP) leader Sandeep Kshirsagar stated that Munde’s resignation was long overdue.
“Munde should also be made the co-accused. Beed is on the boil. There is anger among the people. The accused should be hanged to death,” he added.
With inputs from agencies
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