Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday announced judicial probes into the Parbhani violence and the murder of village head Santosh Deshmukh in Beed district.
The state will also provide financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh each to the kin of Deshmukh and Somnath Suryawanshi, who died after his arrest in connection with the violence in Parbhani over the alleged desecration of a replica of the Constitution, he said.
Announcing the transfer of Beed Superintendent of Police, the CM said the police were found to be lax.
Fadnavis said the abduction and murder of Deshmukh, sarpanch of Massajog village, is already being probed by a special investigation team (SIT) under an IG-rank officer. In addition to that, a judicial probe will be done within three to six months, he said.
The CM assured the House that those responsible for “unleashing” anarchy in Beed district would be punished irrespective of their political links.
Sharing the details tied to the sarpanch murder, Fadnavis said on December 6, Ashok Ghule, Sudarshan Ghule and Pratik Ghule went to the site of an energy project site in Beed district and beat up the watchman Amardeep Sonawane and project manager Shivaji Thopte.
Deshmukh was informed about the incident as the Ghules are from the neighbouring village, he said.
Fadnavis said that on December 9, Deshmukh's vehicle was intercepted by a black Scorpio and another car at a toll naka. He was pulled out and bundled into the Scorpio, the CM told the House.
Deshmukh was mercilessly thrashed inside the car, taken out and again beaten up. “The accused fled after realising that Deshmukh had died,” he said.
Fadnavis said Deshmukh's brother was in touch with one Vishnu Chate pleading with him to let go of the sarpanch. Chate was the former tehsil chief of NCP in Beed district.
Before Deshmukh's murder, manager Thopte of the energy company had filed a police complaint on November 29 alleging an extortion bid, he said.
The complaint said that one Walmik Karad talked over the phone to Sunil Shinde and Chate when they were present at the company's office in Massajog village. Karad demanded that the company stop the work. That day, Sudarshan Ghule also came to the office and asked the company official to stop work.
Project manager Thopte was subsequently called to Parli, where Karad threatened and asked him to either stop the work or pay Rs 2 crore, Fadnavis said.
“The link between the extortion and murder is being probed. I assure the House that the mastermind in the case will be brought to book. If Walmik Karad's involvement in the murder is established, action would be taken. His involvement in the extortion case has been proved,” said the CM.
While Deshmukh was a Maratha, some of the accused including Chate belonged to the Other Backward Classes. This had given a caste angle to the incident, especially against the backdrop of the Maratha quota agitation and opposition by OBCs to it.
All those directly and indirectly involved in these criminal activities in Beed district will be booked under MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act), he said.
Opposition leaders have claimed that Karad is a close associate of NCP minister Dhananjay Munde who hails from Beed district.
The CM also shared details related to the Parbhani case.
On the afternoon of December 10, Fadnavis said one Sopan Pawar desecrated a (glass-enclosed) replica of the Constitution near Babasaheb Ambedkar's statue outside Parbhani railway station. Police reached the site where a crowd had gathered and vandalised vehicles, he said.
The collector was asked to reach the spot and defuse tension, the CM said.
The next day, a bandh was called in the city and Parbhani district during which peaceful protests were held. “However, 200-300 people resorted to violence and damaged property,” the CM said. Police had to use tear gas and lathi charge to control the situation, he said. Some women even entered the collector's office and vandalised it, Fadnavis said.
Police booked 51 persons for arson and arrested 43 of them, while women and children were let off after being given notice, he said.
Sopan Pawar is mentally unstable and has been under treatment since 2012, the CM said. Four doctors checked him and mentioned his mental illness, mood disorder and behavioural issues in their report, Fadnavis said.
“There is no conspiracy theory. There was a Sakal Hindu Samaj morcha in the morning that day to highlight atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh and the desecration took place after five hours. Pawar wasn't part of the morcha,” he said.
Leaders from all political parties were present. This was not a Hindu versus Dalit case, the CM asserted.
“The judicial inquiry into the Parbhani violence will be done to clear all doubts. Ambedkar is not limited to any caste. He belongs to all,” said Fadnavis.
About the death of Somnath Suryawanshi after his arrest in connection with the violence, Fadnavis said he told a magistrate that the police did not torture him.
Medical examination showed there were old injuries on his body and he was suffering from breathlessness. CCTV footage and evidence prove that no force was used on Suryawanshi during his custody, the CM said.
“We should introspect if lawlessness should be tolerated. There was a total loss of Rs 1.89 crore due to the damages to vehicles and shops. There were no combing operations (by police). Only those involved in rioting were picked up,” he said.
