A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Maharashtra police on Saturday arrested two absconding accused in connection with the much-discussed murder of Sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh of Massjog village in Beed district of Marathwada region.
Within days after its formation, the SIT of the Crime Investigation Department (CID) took two more accused Sudarshan Ghule and Sudhir Sangle into custody, taking the total number of arrests made in the case to six.
The SIT is looking for the seventh accused Krushna Andhale who is still at large.
Santosh Deshmukh (45), a three-time Sarpanch, was allegedly killed for attempting to thwart the extortion bid on a local windmill company. He was first abducted, brutally tortured and later killed in broad daylight near the windmill company office on the afternoon of December 9, 2024.
The Beed police had earlier arrested four persons -- Vishnu Chate, Jairam Chate, Mahesh Kedar and Pratik Ghule – for the murder of Sarpanch Deshmukh.
The sarpanch murder case is politically crucial as Walmi Karad, the prime accused in the Rs 2 crore extortion case linked to the murder is allegedly close to Maharashtra Minister Dhyanjay Munde.
Karad, who surrendered before the State CID on Tuesday, is currently in 14 days’ police custody.
Various political parties in the state have also been clamouring for the arrest of Karad in the Sarpanch murder case as well. On its part, the Maharashtra government has instituted three probes – one by the Crime Investigation Department (CID), the second by the SIT probe and third a judicial inquiry – for the murder of the extortion-linked murder of Sarpanch Deshmukh.
