Beed Sarpanch murder: Maharashtra Minister Dhananjay Munde meets Ajit Pawar

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Maharashtra Minister Dhananjay Munde, who is under fire over the murder Beed Sarpanch murder, met Deputy Chief Minister (CM) and his party president, Ajit Pawar, on Tuesday evening amid rising tensions in his constituency, Parli. The area witnessed stone-pelting on buses amid protests, news agency PTI reported.

Munde met Pawar at the Deputy CM's 'Devgiri' bungalow in South Mumbai for around 10 minutes, after which he headed to Parli town in Beed district, approximately 380 km from Mumbai.

"I informed Ajit Pawar about the current situation in Parli. Once things stabilise, I will address the media in the next two days," Munde told reporters before leaving for his assembly constituency.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Minister is facing calls for his resignation from the opposition, a demand supported by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Suresh Dhas, due to his alleged links with Walmik Karad, who was arrested in connection with the extortion case linked to the murder of Santosh Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village, last month.

Deshmukh was abducted, tortured, and killed on December 9, reportedly for attempting to prevent an extortion attempt targeting an energy company operating a windmill project in the district.

On Tuesday, Karad, a close associate of Munde, was charged under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and remanded to 14 days of judicial custody by a court in Kej, Beed district, in the Rs 2-crore extortion case, PTI reported.

Protests broke out in Parli town, with Karad's supporters throwing stones at buses, setting tyres on fire, and attempting to block roads. These protests took place despite prohibitory orders being in place in Beed district until January 28. Some protesters reportedly threatened self-immolation.

Karad's mother staged a sit-in outside a police station, demanding her son's release, while his wife accused IPS officer Basavaraj Teli, who leads the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in the murder case, of bias, PTI reported. She cited his "connections" with Dhas, the Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Ashti in Beed district.

Karad had surrendered to the Crime Investigation Department (CID) in Pune amidst protests over the Beed Sarpanch murder case. He appeared before CID on December 31 and was subsequently remanded in police custody for 14 days. Prior to his surrender, Karad released a video on social media, claiming he was being falsely implicated in the case due to political vendetta.

(With PTI inputs)