Beed sarpanch murder: Book Walmik Karad or we’ll end our lives, says Kin of dead sarpanch

Screengrabs of Dhananjay Deshmukh on top of the water tank; Screengrabs of the villagers gathered at the site

Massajog sarpanch the late Santosh Deshmukh's brother Dhananjay climbed up a water tank in the village demanding MCOCA against Walmik Karad, one of the accused in the Beed extortion case which is suspected of having led to Deshmukh's murder on December 9, 2024. On Monday morning, Dhananjay refused to climb down despite Maratha activist Manoj Jarange and district SP's requests, but relented after a couple of hours, demanding that the police give him and his family a probe update and fulfil the demand by 10 am on Tuesday, failing which he threatened a mass suicide by his family and the fellow villagers.

According to reports, the drama began early in the morning when Dhananjay escaped the police eye to reach the water tank that supplies water to the village. The police were stationed in the village because he had threatened to climb up a cell phone tower. The villagers gathered near the tank and the chief of Beed district police Navneet Kanwat also reached. Jarange and Kanwat urged Dhananjay to get down but he refused. Meanwhile, the rest of the Deshmukh family and some villagers also climbed up the tank, but couldn't go up further.

A couple of hours passed by in negotiations. Dhananjay got down at about 1 pm. He posed many questions to the police and special investigation team that have been probing the murder. He said the family was not told about the progress in the case. According to him, what transpired between December 6 and 9, the day his sarpanch brother was killed, was important for building a strong case. He said the extortion had led to the murder, and since Karad was booked for extortion, he should also be booked under relevant sections for murder and also booked under the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA), which has been applied to the other accused of murder.

Dhananjay demanded that the police, administration, and representatives be present in the village before 10 am on Tuesday to tell the family about the probe and the application of MCOCA against Karad. He and many villagers told the media persons that the villagers would attempt mass suicide if their demand was not met.

Dec 9, 2024
Day sarpanch was murdered