Under fire over Beed sarpanch's murder, minister Dhananjay Munde meets Fadnavis

Mumbai: Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis here on Thursday, amid the opposition's demand for the NCP leader's ouster from the cabinet in connection with the Beed sarpanch murder case.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, state Food and Civil Supplies Minister Munde said a meeting of his department was around the same time as the chief minister's meeting at the Sahaydri guest house in Mumbai.

"So we met," the NCP leader added.

Munde also said he has been demanding from day one that killers of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh be "hanged to death".

"Even if the killers may be close to anyone including me, I have said the accused must be punished. Still, if I am being targeted, one can make out what kind of politics is this," he said.

"What can be objective of the media trial against me...to finish me off politically," claimed Munde, who hails from Beed district.

Fadnavis, who holds the Home portfolio, has announced a judicial probe into the alleged murder of the sarpanch.

Santosh Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed and a popular grassroots leader in the district, was abducted in the afternoon on December 9.

Hours later, his lifeless body was discovered, bearing signs of extreme torture. His murder allegedly stemmed from his intervention in an extortion attempt at a wind power plant near his village.

Police have made some arrests in connection with the case.

The brutal killing of Deshmukh has set off a political and social storm in the state.

The incident has underscored serious concerns about law and order in the district, with BJP MLA Suresh Dhas equating it with that prevailing in Kandahar province of Afghanistan.

State Congress president Nana Patole on Monday demanded sacking of Munde from the state council of ministers to ensure an impartial probe into the Beed sarpanch murder case.

Patole claimed MLAs of the ruling Mahayuti alliance from Beed had alleged links between the food and civil supplies minister and an accused person.

According to police, one of the accused in the sarpanch murder case, Vishnu Chate, had allegedly demanded Rs 2 crore from an energy company which installed a windmill in Beed district and threatened to stop their operations if their demands were not met.

Deshmukh had tried to intervene and stop the extortion due to which he was abducted from his car. He was allegedly tortured and killed by the accused following which an FIR was registered against seven persons, including Chate, they said.

Opposition leaders have alleged that one Valmik Karad was the mastermind in the murder. They claimed Karad is a close associate of Dhananjay Munde.

Karad has not been named as an accused in the murder case.

Social activist Anjali Damania on Tuesday claimed there is “solid evidence” of a financial relationship between Munde and Karad, who she alleged runs a mafia empire in the district.