Walmik Karad, a close aide of Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde, has been charged with ordering the murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, who allegedly opposed Karad's extortion bid targeting a wind energy company. According to a chargesheet filed by the state Crime Investigation Department (CID), Karad allegedly asked his associates to "eliminate" anyone who interfered with their extortion attempt. Deshmukh was abducted, tortured, and murdered in December 2024 after he attempted to stop the extortion bid. Karad and several others have been charged with murder, extortion, and organized crime.
The chargesheet in the murder case of Santosh Deshmukh, sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed district, reveals horrific details of the torture he endured at the hands of his abductors. The accused recorded 15 videos, clicked eight photos, and even made two video calls, documenting the brutality. Deshmukh was abducted and killed in December for attempting to foil an extortion bid on an energy company. Seven men, including a close aide of state minister Dhananjay Munde, have been arrested so far.
The accused, Sudarshan Chandrabhan Ghule (26) and Sudhir Sangle (23), were handed over to the special investigation team of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which is probing the case, the official said.
The resignation followed a vociferous demand by the opposition for Munde's removal from the cabinet.
A Special Investigation Team of Maharashtra Police told a court at Beed on Wednesday that Santosh Deshmukh was killed because he was thought to be an obstacle in a plan to extort Rs 2 crore from an energy firm, and Walmik Karad was in contact with his killers when the crime was executed.
A video clip of three accused in an extortion case linked to the murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, walking together has emerged on social media. The video also shows a suspended police officer in the group accompanying the accused. The video has sparked controversy and raised questions about the involvement of the police in the case. BJP MLA Suresh Dhas has demanded that the suspended police officer be named as a co-accused in the case and that action be taken against other police officers who have been accused of wrongdoing.
The SIT will be headed by Crime Investigation Department's (CID) Deputy Inspector General Basavraj Teli, said an order issued by the state Home department.
An undated audio clip, allegedly featuring Walmik Karad, a close aide of NCP leader Dhananjay Munde, has surfaced online. In the audio, Karad is purportedly heard telling a man not to worry as "influential people" were sitting in Beed. Karad is an accused in an extortion case linked to the murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh. This comes after a video clip of Karad, along with other accused, walking with a suspended police officer emerged on social media last week. The audio clip has sparked further controversy surrounding the case.
Dhananjay Deshmukh, brother of slain Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, climbed a village water tank on Monday and threatened to jump alleging that information about the investigation was not shared with the family. He demanded that the accused in the extortion case linked to sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh's murder be booked under murder charges. Family members of the slain sarpanch and Opposition leaders are demanding that state minister Dhananjay Munde's aide Walmik Karad, arrested in a related extortion case, be booked for murder. Santosh Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village, was abducted, tortured, and murdered on December 9. Preliminary investigation suggests that the sarpanch had tried to thwart an extortion bid on an energy firm operating a windmill project in the region. After climbing down the water tank, Dhananjay told reporters that he trusted Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' assurance on the probe. He further said his agitation was not a drama but a serious yearning for justice for his brother.
Police are examining the past records of the arrested men in the sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh murder case and a related case of extortion to decide if the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) should be invoked, sources said on Thursday. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said he had requested senior lawyer Ujjwal Nikam to appear as a special prosecutor in the murder case. The Crime Investigation Department (CID) has sought old case papers and chargesheets against the arrested men. Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed, was abducted and brutally killed on December 9, allegedly for opposing an extortion bid by some persons who had demanded money from a windmill company. Beed Police has put up posters seeking information about whereabouts of three wanted accused in the murder case. CM Fadnavis said he spoke to BJP MLA from Beed, Suresh Dhas who demanded that Nikam be appointed as special public prosecutor in the case. Nikam was a special public prosecutor in several high-profile cases, including the 26/11 terror attacks and 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts. Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar claimed that "smaller fish" could be killed in fake encounters to save the "big fish" involved in the Deshmukh murder and extortion cases. Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra legislative council Ambadas Danve said the trial in the case should be conducted outside Beed district. NCP leader Dhananjay Munde, who has come under fire after the alleged involvement of his aide Karad in the extortion matter came to light, said those who murdered Santosh Deshmukh should be tried in a fast-track court and "hanged till death." The government on Wednesday set up a 10-member SIT to probe the case, headed by Deputy Inspector General -CID Basavraj Teli.
Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange on Sunday refuted talk of his stir not being a factor in the Maharashtra assembly polls, which were swept by the Mahayuti comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party.
'If a Brahmin child by birth is poor then he must get reservation benefits rather than an OBC child who is rich and born in a rich family.'
Around 9 pm Friday, some people from the Muslim community lodged a police complaint alleging that a 14-year-old student of Class 9 had made objectionable remarks on their religion on Instagram, Superintendent of Police (Rural) Raj Kumar Aggarwal said.
Bhujbal was supposed to go to St George Hospital for a dental treatment but Ghule changed his medical papers without the knowledge of Arthur Road Jail CMO and recommended that he get admitted there for some other reason.
The grampanchayat of Takali village in Kej tehsil of Beed district took this decision on March 29.
The Bandra Metropolitan Magistrate's court had ordered the police to investigate a complaint filed by Munawwar Ali Sayyed, a Bollywood casting director and fitness trainer, which referred to Ranaut's and her sister's tweets and other statements.
Vinay Dubey was granted bail on a cash surety of Rs 15,000. On April 14, the last day of the first phase of the lockdown, several hundred migrants had assembled on the west side of Bandra suburban station demanding trains to take them to their native places, just hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an extension of the lockdown till May 3.
The Trimbakeshwar Temple authorities have gone back on their April 3 resolution wherein they decided to ban entry of men too into the core worship area at the famous Lord Shiva shrine in Nashik.
M A Prajusha defended her title in triple jump on the concluding day as her state Kerala emerged overall winners in the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships in Hyderabad on Monday.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, research, Religare Broking, answers your stockmarket queries.
Mumbai's Dabbawalas (lunchbox carriers) will add a flavour of cricketing love to their daily delivery of lunchboxes for their respective clientele during ICC World Twenty20 India 2016. All Dabbawalas will, for a period of 2 weeks wear ICC WT20 branded T-shirts as they go about delivering approximately 50,000 lunchboxes. A handout of the complete tournament schedule will be provided along with each. Once the tournament enters the Super 10 stage, a contingent of 25 Dabbawalas wearing branded ICC WT20 topis (traditional Indian caps) and waistcoats will add to the crowd strength for three of the matches scheduled to be played in Mumbai. The activity was lauded and set underway by former Indian cricketers Sameer Dighe and Diana Edulji, who met with Yamanji S. Ghule, President of Mumbai Dabbawala Association at the Wankhede Stadium.
Those set free include Suleiman Memon, brother of prime accused Tiger Memon and Raheen Memon, wife of another accused Yakub Memon.
Ghule and Vichare were arrested by the CBI on October 8, 2004 for their alleged involvement in the multi-crore stamp paper racket.
The raids were carried out at Mumbai, Thane and Nashik.
As per tradition, only men were allowed entry daily between 6-7 am into the area where the main 'linga' is placed, that too by putting on a specific gear called the sovala (silk clothing).
Bhujbal has reportedly lost 10 kilograms since his arrest in March. He is seen with a full grown white beard and a very frail look in the picture.
Among Indian cars Vizag-based Stephen Panchigalla clocked 13.366s in his Skoda Octavia in the same J Class, which was run jointly for both Foreign and Indian cars, to ended up as the 'Fastest Indian Car.' Of the day.
Though some Hindutva groups have said they will prevent the women's group from entering the temple.
India garnered most of the gold medals on offer for the fourth successive day at the 12th South Asian Games, as their swimmers, archers and track-and-field athletes ensured the top position on the medals tally remained unchallenged, in Guwahati, on Tuesday.
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