In what came as an embarrassment to the ruling MahaYuti,  an activist belonging to its ally NCP (AP) was arrested on Wednesday in connection with the murder of Sarpanch of Massejeog village Santosh Deshmukh in Beed district of Marathwada on December 9.

Identifying the arrested NCP (AP) activist as Vishnu Chate, Beed district’s Additional Superintendent of Police Sachin S  Pandkar said that Chate was arrested  on the Beed-Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar highway as he attempted to flee the district.

With the arrest of Chate, the total number of arrested accused  has gone up to four. The police are on the look-out for three more absconding accused.

Chate, who was on the run for nine days before being taken into custody by the Beed police, has been charged with masterminding the killing of the Sarpanch.

Chate was earlier allegedly involved in an extortion case of Rs. 3 Crore.  The police have found a link between the extortion case involving a windmill company and the Sarpanch murder case

In the previous (extortion) case lodged by the local windmill company,one of the  accused was Walmiki Karad, who is alleged to have been linked to a senior NCP (AP)  minister.

The investigations have revealed that Sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh was allegedly killed for attempting to thwart the extortion bid on the windmill company. He was first abducted, brutally tortured and later killed in broad daylight near the windmill company office on the afternoon of December 0.

The Sarpanch’s murder has brought to the fore a major caste-politics nexus in Beed district.

The killed sarpanch was a Maratha while the prime accused (Chate) belongs to OBC (Vanjari) community. Both were bitter rivals. Their rivalry intensified during the ongoing reservation agitation.

The Sarpanch’s murder figured during the ongoing winter session of the Maharashtra Legislature for the third consecutive day, as the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) constituents Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (SP)-Shiv Sena (UBT) staged a walk out from the State Legislative council.

On its part, the BJP-led MahaYuti government appointed  a Special Investigation Team (SIT) t0 look into Sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh’s murder.

Meanwhile,  Leader of Opposition in the Council Ambadas Danve of the Shiv Sena (UBT) came down heavily on the MahaYuti for the total collapse of law-and-order in Beed and Parbhani districts.