Sarpanch's murder: Huge protest in Beed; Mahayuti MLAs demand Munde's ouster

Thousands of people gathered in Maharashtras Beed city on Saturday to protest against the brutal murder of Massajog sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh as even MLAs from ruling parties demanded the sacking of NCP minister Dhananjay Munde reported the PTIMaratha quota activist Manoj Jarange Chhatrapati Sambhaji of the Kolhapur royal family local BJP MLAs Suresh Dhas Abhimanyu Pawar NCP MLA Prakash Solanke and NCP SP MLAs Jitendra Awhad and Sandeep Kshirsagar participated in the aakrosh morcha or protest march according to the PTIThe protesters demanded arrest of Walmik Karad an alleged associate of Dhananjay Munde a politician from Beed district in MaharashtraAs per the PTI Santosh Deshmukh was abducted and tortured to death on December 9 While four persons have been arrested Opposition leaders claimed in the state legislature during the winter session that Walmik Karad was the mastermind of the murderWalmik Karad named as an accused in a related case of extortion is still at largeVaibhavi Deshmukh the daughter of the deceased sarpanch demanded justice for her father during the protest He lost his life while saving a person from the Dalit community she said the news agency reportedAbhimanyu Pawar who was earlier an aide of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis before he became MLA from Ausa in neighbouring Latur district said the pain caused by Deshmukhs murder was felt in different parts of MaharashtraEven if I am part of the ruling dispensation I want to tell the government that if the accused are not arrested protests will reach other parts of the state We want justice for the family of Santosh Deshmukh he said the PTI reportedBJP MLA Dhas alleged that Munde the Food and Civil Supplies Minister won assembly election from Parli in Beed district with the help of bogus votesThe Nationalist Congress Party to which Munde belongs is part of the ruling BJPled Mahayuti coalitionNCP MLA Prakash Solanke said some of the accused were still at large even 19 days after the murder and Walmik Karad too had not been arrestedDhananjay Munde was the guardian minister of Beed for four of the last five years Munde needs to be sacked Until the accused are convicted Munde should be sacked so that there is an impartial probe Solanke said according to the PTIThe Majalgaon constituency which he represents has collected Rs 40 lakh for the Deshmukh family he informedMaratha quota activist Manoj Jarange said that the Maratha community will not keep quiet till the deceased who belonged to the Maratha community got justiceIf the CM does not want this protest to spread to other parts of the state the accused should be arrested and action should be taken against those who are supporting them There is suspicion that the government is shielding the accused Manoj Jarange saidThe Shiv Sena UBT has reportdely demanded resignation of Dhananjay MundeAccording to police Deshmukh was prima facie killed because he opposed an extortion bid targeting a windmill company in Beed districtLocal NCP leader Vishnu Chate allegedly demanded Rs 2 crore from the company Deshmukh tried to intervene leading to his abduction torture and murder Chate is among the four arrested accusedwith PTI inputs