Slain sarpanch's brother seeks information about woman who was found dead in Dharashiv near Beed

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Dhananjay Deshmukh, the brother of slain sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, on Tuesday said the police should share information related to the death of a woman in Dharashiv district neighbouring Beed.

The police in Dharashiv district have said that the woman was found dead in her home in Dwarka Nagar locality of Kalamb town nearly a week ago. The incident came to light when neighbours called police on noticing a foul smell emanating from her house.

The police have also said the deceased woman was no way connected to the sarpanch murder case, while activist Anjali Damania claimed that the woman was roped in to frame Santosh Deshmukh, sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed, in a false case, and that she was murdered.

In a post on social media platform X, activist Damania on Monday claimed the woman was roped in to frame Deshmukh in a case of committing immoral acts, and was questioned by police after the sarpanch was murdered.

Deshmukh was abducted and tortured to death on December 9 last year allegedly for attempting to stop an extortion bid targeting an energy company.

Talking to reporters in Massajog, Dhananjay Deshmukh said, "If the woman who died in Kalamb was questioned in connection with the Santosh Deshmukh murder case, then people should be told the facts of the investigation as well as the reasons behind her death. We have sought information from the Dharashiv police, but have not got any response yet so far." "Tomorrow, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is coming to Beed and a delegation from the village will meet him and talk about the incidents in jail...The accused in the (sarpanch murder) case should be shifted out of Beed," he said.

Eight persons, including Walmik Karad, an aide of NCP leader and former state minister Dhananjay Munde, have been arrested so far and booked under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in the sarpanch murder case.

BJP MLA Suresh Dhas on Monday claimed that Karad, lodged in Beed district jail, was assaulted by members of a rival gang. But his claim was denied by a top prison official. Hours later, officials shifted four prisoners from the Beed jail to the Harsul facility in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. One of them claimed they were beaten up on the instructions of Karad.