Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday said those involved in the sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh murder case will not be spared, and sought death sentence to the accused for the “heinous” crime, reported news agency PTI.
Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed district, was abducted and tortured to death on December 9.
Preliminary investigation indicated that he had tried to resist an extortion attempt targeting an energy company operating a windmill project in the area.
The murder case triggered a political slugfest as Walmik Karad, a close aide of NCP minister Dhananjay Munde, was arrested in the extortion case linked to the sarpanch murder case, PTI stated.
Maharashtra Deputy CM Shinde described the murder of the sarpanch as “very unfortunate” and sought justice.
“Be it Walmik Karad or anyone else, not a single person involved will be spared. For such heinous murders, there is no other punishment than the death penalty,” Shinde said.
Karad was arrested in the extortion case related to the murder after he surrendered before the police in Pune on December 31. Last week, he was charged under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), PTI stated.
Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh was killed because he was thought to be an obstacle in a plan to extort Rs 2 crore from an energy firm, and Walmik Karad was in contact with his killers when the crime was executed, the Maharashtra police`s Special Investigation Team (SIT) told the court in Beed last week, reported PTI.
Beed Sarpanch murder: Court sends Walmik Karad to 14-day judicial custody over extortion case
A court in Maharashtra`s Beed district on Wednesday remanded Walmik Karad, accused in an extortion case in connection to the murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, in 14-day judicial custody, PTI reported.
As per PTI, Karad was produced via a video link before the special court for Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) cases after the end of his CID custody.
The special court then sent him in judicial custody for 14 days.
Karad, a close aide of state minister Dhananjay Munde, was on January 14 booked under the stringent MCOCA and sent in 14-day judicial custody.
Subsequently, the police approached the special MCOCA court for his custody, PTI cited.
The court on January 15 had remanded him in the custody of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the CID, which is conducting an investigation into the case, till January 22.
(With inputs from PTI)
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