Walmik Karad admitted to hospital after complaint of stomach pain

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Walmik Karad, Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde's close aide arrested in a case related to the murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, has been admitted to a hospital in Beed after complaining of stomach pain, an official said on Thursday.

The development comes after a court in Beed on Wednesday remanded Karad in 14-day judicial custody.

"After being taken to a jail in Beed, Karad complained of stomach pain. The jail administration wrote a letter about the same to medical authorities at the Beed Civil Hospital last night. A team of doctors then examined him in the jail and prescribed medicines," a senior official from the hospital told PTI.

"But, as the pain did not subside, Karad was brought to the civil hospital at around 10.30 pm on Wednesday. He has been kept in a semi ICU ward. His health review will be conducted later in the day (on Thursday). Surgeons are examining him and some of his tests will be conducted today," the official said.

Earlier on Wednesday, an official had said Karad was suffering from cough, cold and fever and was taken to the government hospital in the morning for a check-up but his vital parameters were stable.

While the court remanded him in judicial custody, Dhananjay Deshmukh, the murder victim's brother, on Wednesday said no accused in the case should get bail as they had created an "atmosphere of terror".

In response to an application made by Karad's lawyers, the court allowed him to use, while in prison, a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine which helps to treat sleep apnea, a police official said.

Sleep apnea is a disorder that causes breathing to repeatedly stop and start during sleep.

Santosh Deshmukh, sarpanch of Massajog village in central Maharashtra's Beed district, was abducted, tortured and murdered on December 9. Preliminary investigation indicated that Deshmukh had tried to resist an extortion attempt targeting an energy company.

Karad surrendered before the police in Pune on December 31 in connection with the extortion case and was subsequently arrested.

He was on January 14 booked under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).

Deshmukh was killed because he was thought to be an obstacle in a plan to extort Rs 2 crore from an energy firm which operates wind mills in the area, and Karad was in contact with the killers over phone when the crime was executed, the state police's Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is probing the case, had told the court earlier.