Maharashtra: Slain Beed sarpanch's brother threatens to end life by jumping from overhead tank; climbs down later

Dhananjay Deshmukh, the brother of slain sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, had threatened to jump to death from an overhead water tank in Maharashtra's Beed, claiming information about the murder case probe was not being shared with his family.

Deshmukh held a Sholay-type andolan on an overhead tank in Mssajog in Parli in Beed district.

Maratha community leader Manoj Jarange-Patil and Beed Superintendent of Police  Navneet Kanwat requested Deshmukh to come down - which he agreed after a few hours. 

“We want justice to prevail,” said Vaibhavi Deshmukh, the daughter of the late Sarpanch. 

The people of Massajog are demanding capital punishment for the killers of Sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh.

Reiterating the demand for stringent action against the accused, Dhananjay Deshmukh on Sunday had said that he feared the evidence might be destroyed and he and his family might meet the same fate as his brother if the accused in the murder and a related extortion case are set free.

Santosh Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed district, was abducted, tortured, and murdered on December 9, allegedly in retaliation for his efforts to prevent extortion attempts against an energy firm linked to a windmill project.

As part of the investigation, police have so far arrested seven persons connected to the case. One of the accused is still absconding. All the eight accused have been booked under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), as per police.

Walmik Karad, an associate of Maharashtra NCP minister Dhananjay Munde, has been arrested in a related extortion case.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Maharashtra CID was conducting a probe into the cases.

Speaking to reporters in Beed on Sunday night, Dhananjay Deshmukh said, "Thirty-five days have passed since my brother's murder. We have faith in the CM (Devendra Fadnavis). I was expecting that information about the investigation will be shared with me. But there is no value of the information if it shared after the evidence are destroyed."

Dhananjay Deshmukh said that since day one they have been demanding strict punishment for the accused in the murder and the related extortion case.

"If the accused (in the murder and extortion cases) are not booked under the MCOCA and on murder charges, I will start an agitation from 10 am on Monday. I will jump from a mobile tower here (in Beed) because once the accused are freed, they will kill me brutally...there will be no one in my family then to seek justice," he said.

He claimed his brother's murder was linked to the extortion case.

"If my family and I are not provided proper information, then we will have to take a decision, as what happened to my brother may happen to us also," he said.

With DHNS and PTI inputs