NCP expels Beed leader accused of kidnapping, murder of sarpanch

Mumbai: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Saturday expelled a leader from the Beed district who was arrested for allegedly being involved in the kidnapping and murder of a village sarpanch, an incident that sparked unrest in the Maratha community in the politically sensitive Marathwada region.

The arrest of Vishnu Chate, who heads the NCP in the Kej tehsil of Beed, has also led to the case being politicised. The local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from the Ashti constituency, Suresh Dhas, has written to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis demanding the formation of a special investigation team (SIT) to find out the mastermind behind the kidnapping and murder. Earlier this week, Beed MP Bajrang Sonawane met Union home minister Amit Shah and demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation probe. The BJP and the NCP are part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance.

Santosh Deshmukh, a Maratha sarpanch of the Massajog village in Kej tehsil, was abducted and murdered on December 9 for allegedly opposing an attempt to extort ₹2 crore from a windmill company in the area. Photos of Deshmukh’s dead body went viral on social media and spread anger among the Maratha community as he was allegedly tortured and then brutally murdered. A bandh was observed on Friday in the Beed district to protest the murder.

The case is sociopolitically sensitive as three of the accused, including Chate, belong to the Vanjari community, which falls under Other Backward Classes (OBCs). Marathas and OBCs have been at loggerheads over reservation quotas in the state. During the Lok Sabha and Maharashtra assembly elections earlier this year, when the Marathas stepped up their demand for reservation under the OBC quota, there was tension between them and Vanjaris in Beed.

Chate and another accused, Sudarshan Ghule, were arrested on charges of kidnapping and murder. Meanwhile, Walmik Karad, a close aide of NCP leader Dhananjay Munde, has been named one of the accused in the extortion case. Karad was earlier the NCP’s group leader in the Parali municipal council.

Munde, on his part, has demanded that the case be assigned to a fast-track court. “The murder of Santosh Deshmukh is very unfortunate. Such a crime is dangerous for society, and the criminals should be brought to justice. The case should be run in a fast-track court so that those involved get strict punishment,” he said.

Munde also condemned the politicisation of the incident. “Criminals have no caste–they are just criminals. No one should use the incident to create a rift between two communities. It’s unfortunate that some people are trying to politicise the incident,” he said.

Earlier, on December 10, BJP MLA Dhas wrote to Fadnavis, demanding an SIT probe. “Santosh Deshmukh was a popular sarpanch of Massajog. The gangs involved in extortion from windmill companies kidnapped him and killed him brutally. Prima facie, the police did not take action on time. So, I request you to form a Special Investigation Team for the investigation of the murder and find out the mastermind behind the incident and ensure strict action is taken against him,” Dhas wrote in his letter to the chief minister.