Image showing a police van. (For representation)
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Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Wednesday formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the gruesome murder of Santosh Desmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Kaij tehsil of Beed district of Maharashtra, which has snowballed into a major political issue.
Deshmukh (45), a three-time sarpanch, was kidnapped, tortured and murdered on December 9, 2024, for putting up a resistance against an extortion syndicate.
The Pune-headquartered Crime Intelligence Department (CID) is already conducting a probe into the incident, after having taken over the investigation from the Beed police.
The SIT would be headed by CID’s Deputy Inspector General Basavraj Teli and would comprise officials of CID, Beed police, and the Beed Crime Branch.
During the Nagpur winter session of the Maharashtra Legislature, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is also the state Home Minister, assured a thorough probe into the incident.
Four persons have been arrested in connection with the case—Vishnu Chate, Jairam Chate, Mahesh Kedar, and Pratik Ghule.
Three others are wanted in the case.
On Tuesday, Walmik Karad, a close aide of NCP minister Dhananjay Munde who was wanted in an extortion case linked to the murder, surrendered before the State CID headquarters in Pune.
The CID is looking at three cases -the abduction and murder of Deshmukh, extortion attempts from Avaada Group, a prominent renewable energy company, as well as assault on its security guard.
In a related development, around 40 locals, comprising both men and women, stood waist-deep in a local lake, underscoring their demands of arrest of the accused in the case. The protest was brought to a halt after two hours when Superintendent of Police Navneet Kanwat visited the site, promising efforts to apprehend the fugitives.