Activist meets Ajit Pawar with ‘proof’ against Dhananjay Munde

MUMBAI: While more cases involving Walmik Karad are coming to light, social activist Anjali Damania on Monday met deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar to show him the evidence she allegedly has of NCP minister Dhananjay Munde’s close links with Karad. After the meeting, Damania told media persons that Ajit said he would apprise chief minister Fadnavis on Tuesday and decide what to do next.

According to Damania, the pieces of evidence include those that prove Munde’s direct link with Walmik Karad, the alleged mastermind in the murder of Massajog sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh. Damania and leaders from across political lines have been demanding Munde’s removal from the ministerial council on account of his links with Karad who has been not only arrested by the CID SIT but has been charged under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), as he is facing serious charges in several criminal cases. Despite this, Ajit Pawar has been backing Munde, saying there is no link to prove that the latter was involved in any of the cases.

Damania met the NCP president at his official residence on Monday. “I furnished Ajit Pawar with details of all that is happening in Beed district and Munde’s close links with Karad,” she told reporters. “I also showed him how Munde’s wife Rajshri and Karad are business partners and are financially involved, which is a clear case of Office of Profit. I told Ajit Pawar that he had to get Munde to resign.”

Damania added that she also raised the issue of the Munde family getting government contracts, and showed Ajit the papers of the Maharashtra State Power Generation Company (Mahagenco), a state-run subsidiary, as proof. “Getting government contracts while being a legislator and minister is a direct violation of the laws,” she said.

The activist said that Pawar heard her out patiently and looked at all the evidence. “He said he had a meeting with the CM on Tuesday and would show him the documents, after which they would take a decision,” she stated. “He also claimed that he was not supporting whatever happened in Beed and was of the view that those involved should be brought to justice.”

There was no comment from Pawar or his party on the meeting.

Meanwhile, two more cases linked to Karad came to the fore on Monday. In the first case, the family members of a person called Mahadev Munde met Beed DSP Anil Choremale, stating that Munde was murdered in October 2023 but the police investigation had reached nowhere even after 15 months.

BJP MLA Suresh Dhas had alleged on January 24 that the Beed police had not investigated the Mahadev Munde case so far. After meeting Beed SP Navneet Kanwat, Dhas also demanded that the case be transferred to the Beed CID. He also linked Karad’s sons, Sushil and Shree, to the case, claiming that they made 100 to 150 calls to local police officers the day Munde was killed. “I am not saying they are involved but why do they need to call police officers so many times on the day of the murder?” he questioned.

Munde’s wife, Dnyaneshwari, after meeting the deputy SP, said that he had assured them of action. “He said he had yet to receive the file from the Parli police, but it was likely to come that day,” she told reporters in Beed. “He said he would need another four days to study it, after which action would begin.”

The other case is related to a certain Saurabh Bhondwe who died on August 13, 2024. Damania alleged that Saurabh, 28, was killed by drowning him in a pond. “When his body was found and his father went to file a complaint, a police officer named Anmol Kedar did not file the complaint because he received a call from Karad,” she claimed, adding, “This shows the control of Karad over the Beed police.”