Beed: Dhananjay Deshmukh, the brother of Sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, who was allegedly murdered, on Monday protested in a unique way by climbing on top of a water tank here.
Dhananjay climbed on a water tank in Masajog village. A lot of villagers gathered at the site. After two hours, following an appeal by Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil and Beed Superintendent of Police (SP) Navneet Kanwat, Dhananjay Deshmukh decided to climb down from the water tank.
Dhananjay Deshmukh said that before the accused kills us, we will kill ourselves.
Dhananjay alleged that information about the investigation was not shared with the family. He also demanded that the accused in the extortion case linked to Santosh Deshmukh's murder be booked under murder charges. Family members of the slain sarpanch and Opposition leaders are demanding that Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde's aide Walmik Karad, arrested in a related extortion case, be booked for murder.
Sources said that the SP assured Dhananjay Deshmukh that they will take up the issues with regard to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) with the Maharashtra government.
Santosh Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed district, was murdered on December 9 after he allegedly opposed an extortion attempt targeting an energy firm installing windmills in the area. The extortion attempt was reportedly led by local leader Vishnu Chate, who demanded Rs 2 crore from the company. Deshmukh's intervention allegedly led to his abduction, torture, and subsequent murder.
The Maharashtra Police have filed three FIRs in connection with the case: one for Deshmukh's abduction and murder, another for assault on a windmill firm's security guard by locals, and a third for the Rs 2 crore extortion bid targeting the firm.
One of the key accused, identified as Valmiki Karad, has also surrendered. According to the FIRs, Sudarshan Ghule and Prateek Ghule were involved in an altercation with a security guard at the project site. Vishnu Chate has also been arrested in connection with the extortion case. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has assured that no one would sparred in the case.
The protest by Dhananjay was similar to the one in the Hindi movie Sholay starring Dharmendra, Hema Malini and Sanjeev Kumar.
