Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: NCP (SP) MP 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 absconding accused Santosh Andhale even two months after Deshmukh was killed.
The murder of Deshmukh 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. The Massajog village sarpanch 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 family members of Deshmukh in Massajog village and later the kin of murdered trader Mahadev Munde in Parli town, also in Beed district. Talking to reporters at Massajog village, Sule said she and Beed MP Bajrang Sonawane (NCP SP) had met Amit Shah in connection with the Santosh Deshmukh murder case and Shah assured to look into it.
Sule added that she would also meet state Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to seek justice for Deshmukh's family. The NCP (SP) working president consoled family members of Mahadev Munde, whose murder in 2023 allegedly remains unsolved. She called up Beed superintendent of police Navneet Kanwat over the phone and demanded a transparent inquiry.
Earlier in the day, Sule slammed Walmik Karad over a video he had shared before surrendering to police in the extortion case. "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.
The Baramati MP alleged the government was not transparent in the Deshmukh murder case. "I will see to it that the (sarpanch's) family get information about the case every alternate day," she said, Sule said the superintendent of police is monitoring the Mahadev Munde murder case.
"My concern is why the people in this area are afraid of speaking which is unfortunate in a state like Maharashtra," she said. Dhananjay Munde represents the Parli assembly constituency in Beed district, while NCP leader and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar is its guardian minister. Mahadev Munde was allegedly murdered on October 22, 2023, near the Parli tehsil office in Beed. The Beed Police recently constituted a special team of five police officials to investigate the case.
NCP (SP) MLA Jitendra Awhad, who accompanied Sule, alleged that the Mahadev Munde murder case remains unsolved due to "political pressure". He demanded that the murder cases of Deshmukh and Mahadev Munde be shifted out of Beed for investigation. Awhad further said that details of calls between the accused and police before and after Deshmukh's murder should 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.
