Mumbai: In December last year, news of a village sarpanch’s gruesome death caused ripples across Maharashtra. Forty-five-year-old Santosh Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Beed’s Massajog village and a local Bharatiya Janata Party leader, who had allegedly tried to stop an extortion bid, was abducted, tortured, and then mercilessly killed. Now, photos of his torture – that the accused had allegedly clicked on their phones and which are now part of the chargesheet – were circulated all over social media for the past two days.
Deshmukh’s death also exposed the local nexus of one of the confidantes of Nationalist Congress Party leader Dhananjay Munde. His close aide, Walmik Karad, has been named as one of the accused and a “prime conspirator” in Deshmukh’s murder case. Soon after Deshmukh’s murder, his family and others from the village pointed to Karad’s role in the abduction and killing. The pressure has since been building on Munde, as Karad’s influence in the region is solely because of him.
Karad, once close to his uncle Gopinath Munde, had been taking care of all political and financial dealings of Munde in Beed. So, when Karad’s name emerged in the murder case, it was obvious that fingers would be pointed at Munde.
Other arrested accused include Vishnu Chate, Jayram Chate, Sudarshan Ghule, Prateek Ghule, Mahesh Kedar, Sudhir Sangle, and Siddharth Sonwane. They are all in judicial custody. The chargesheet mentions one Krishna Andhale, who is absconding.
Close to three months after the gruesome murder, Munde finally had to resign from his ministerial position. Munde had held the portfolios of food and civil supplies.
बीड जिल्ह्यातील मस्साजोगचे स्व. संतोष देशमुख यांच्या निर्घृण हत्येतील आरोपींना कठोरात कठोर शिक्षा व्हावी, ही माझी पहिल्या दिवसापासूनची ठाम मागणी आहे. काल समोर आलेले फोटो पाहून तर मन अत्यंत व्यथित झाले.
या प्रकरणाचा तपास पूर्ण झाला असून आरोपपत्र न्यायालयात दाखल झाले आहे. तसेच,…
— Dhananjay Munde (@dhananjay_munde) March 4, 2025
On February 27, the CID’s Special Investigation Team (SIT), which was formed to investigate the murder, submitted a 1,200-page chargesheet in the case. The chargesheet provides a detailed account of how an attempt was made to extort money from one Avaada company, and how a security guard was assaulted in the course of the extortion attempt. The chargesheet has annexed details of the torture, extracted from over 15 videos and eight photographs found in the mobile phones of the accused persons.
The videos, the SIT claims in the chargesheet, were recorded with the intention of making them public and showing the world the extent of the torture. The abuse, including brutal assault and urinating on Deshmukh, is captured in these videos.
The fallout
The extent of the brutality was known all along, but the timing of the photographs going viral and the ongoing budget session – the first since the Mahayuti government came to power in November last year – has led to an uproar in the house. The opposition demanded Munde’s immediate resignation. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also holds the Home portfolio, was questioned for the breakdown of law and order in the state as well.
Munde, who had stayed silent even when the murder happened in Beed – his constituency and the stronghold of the Munde family – took to social media after the photographs went viral. He wrote that he was “deeply saddened” by the photos and cited his “ill health” before announcing his resignation from the ministerial position. Ajit Pawar, who too had steered clear of any association with the murder and had maintained silence all along, announced Munde’s resignation as a matter of “morality.”
Deshmukh was a Maratha man, and the accused persons in the case belong to the Vanjari, a nomadic caste. Munde also comes from the Vanjari community. Deshmukh is believed to have campaigned against Munde in the Vidhan Sabha elections.
The Maratha question
Deshmukh’s death has once again stirred the existing Maratha-non-Maratha debate in the state. Deshmukh’s death was gruesome and had a strong political angle, which contributed to why it became a major political issue in the state. Additionally, the Maratha caste leaders and ministers were also evidently angered by the extent of the brutality meted out to Deshmukh at the time of his death.
Amid the controversy, Fadnavis is being questioned for not acting swiftly or demanding Munde’s resignation. Shiv Sena (Uddhav Bal Thackeray) party leader Aaditya Thackeray said that the government was privy to the details of the crime all along, but it still stayed mute. “Law and order has deteriorated in the state. When the photos came out, the entire state was in shock. Maharashtra has never seen such extreme cruelty,” he said. A few other leaders demanded the death penalty for the accused persons. Not just the opposition leaders, but Maratha leaders within the BJP also attacked Munde for shielding Karad.
Munde, a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Parli in Beed district, is no stranger to controversy. Only a month ago, a local court in Mumbai held him guilty in a domestic violence case and ordered him to pay his estranged spouse, Karuna Munde, Rs 2 lakh per month as alimony. Munde’s appeal against the verdict is pending in the higher court.
