Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) lawmaker Supriya Sule on Tuesday claimed Union Home Minister Amit Shah had assured her that he would look into the Sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh murder case.
Sule slammed local authorities in Beed for their “failure” to arrest Krishna Andhale, the absconding accused in the case, even after two months since Deshmukh was brutally murdered, reported news agency PTI.
The Beed Sarpanch murder case triggered a political firestorm in Maharashtra over alleged links between state Minister Dhananjay Munde, who belongs to NCP, and Walmik Karad, an accused arrested in an extortion case linked to the murder.
Deshmukh, who was the sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed district, was abducted, tortured, and murdered on December 9, 2024, for allegedly trying to stop an extortion bid targeting an energy firm.
The police have so far arrested seven persons in connection with the murder.
Sule met Deshmukh`s family members in Massajog village. Later, she had an interaction with the kin of murdered trader Mahadev Munde in Parli town in Beed district and consoled his family members. Sule said the superintendent of police is monitoring the Munde murder case, which has remained unsolved.
Supriya Sule to discuss Beed Sarpanch murder with Devendra Fadnavis
Munde was allegedly murdered on October 22, 2023, near the Parli tehsil office in Beed. The police recently constituted a special team of five police officers to investigate the case, PTI reported.
NCP (SP) legislator Jitendra Awhad, who accompanied Sule, alleged that the Mahadev Munde murder case remains unsolved due to “political pressure”
Talking to reporters at Massajog village, Sule said that she and Beed Member of Parliament (MP) from NCP (SP), Bajrang Sonawane, had met the Union Home Minister in connection with the Deshmukh murder case. During the meeting, Shah assured that he would look into it, she claimed.
Sule added that she would also meet state Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to seek justice for Deshmukh`s family, PTI reported.
She called up Beed Superintendent of Police Navneet Kanwat over the phone and demanded a transparent inquiry.
Earlier in the day, the NCP (SP) Lok Sabha lawmaker slammed Karad over a video he had shared before surrendering to police in the extortion case linked to the Beed Sarpanch murder.
“Walmik Karad made a video before his surrender. How do people have the courage to make such a video before surrendering? Where did Krishna Andhale go? If they can track our phones daily, can`t they find Andhale? This is not acceptable,” she said, alleging that the government was not transparent in the Beed Sarpanch murder case.
“I will see to it that the [sarpanch`s] family get information about the case every alternate day,” she said.
“My concern is why the people in this area are afraid of speaking which is unfortunate in a state like Maharashtra,” she added.
Dhananjay Munde represents the Parli Assembly Constituency in Beed district, while NCP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is its guardian minister.
Awhad demanded that the murder cases of Deshmukh and Mahadev Munde be shifted out of Beed for investigation. He further said that the details of calls between the accused and police before and after Deshmukh`s murder should also come out in the public domain.
“The police kept every single detail of Sheena Bora`s murder case before the people. Why police didn`t hold a single press conference in this case? This is because they want to hide the facts,” he alleged.
(With PTI inputs)
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