Maharashtra minister Munde resigns after aide named mastermind in sarpanch murder
Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde on Tuesday resigned from the state cabinet, days after his close aide Walmik Karad was named as the mastermind in the Beed sarpanch murder case.
“Dhananjay Munde has submitted his resignation. I have accepted it and forwarded it to Governor C P Radhakrishnan,” Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told reporters at Vidhan Bhawan.
The resignation followed a vociferous demand by the opposition for Munde's removal from the cabinet.
Fadnavis held a late-night meeting with Deputy CM and NCP chief Ajit Pawar on Monday, along with senior NCP leaders, including Munde, to discuss the issue.
The Opposition demand for Munde's resignation intensified after gory photos and court chargesheet details related to the killing of Massajog village sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh surfaced, revealing the brutalities committed before the murder.
Meanwhile, Munde said he resigned as the Maharashtra cabinet minister after listening to his conscience and also for medical reasons.
In a post on X, Munde also said he was deeply saddened after seeing photographs related to the gruesome murder of Santosh Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed district.
“It has been my firm demand since day one that the accused in the brutal murder of Santosh Deshmukh should be given the strictest punishment. Seeing the photos that surfaced yesterday, I was deeply saddened,” he said.
“Listening to my conscience and considering that my health has not been good for the past few days, doctor has advised me to undergo treatment for the next few days. Therefore, also for medical reasons, I have submitted my resignation from the cabinet to the Hon'ble Chief Minister,” said the NCP MLA from Parali in Beed district.
Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed, was abducted, tortured and murdered on December 9 last year allegedly for attempting to stop an extortion bid targeting an energy company in the district.
The state Crime Investigation Department (CID) on February 27 filed a more than 1,200-page chargesheet at a court in Beed district in Deshmukh's murder and two related cases.
Three separate cases - murder of sarpanch, bid to extort money from Avaada company and assault on security guard of the firm - have been registered at Kej police station in Beed. The police have invoked the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against the accused in the cases.
Seven persons have been arrested so far and booked under the MCOCA. One of the accused is still at large.
Besides Karad, the others arrested include Sudarshan Ghule, Vishnu Chate, Jairam Chate, Mahesh Kedar, Siddhartha Sonawane, Sudhir Sangale and Prateek Ghule. Krishna Andhale is a wanted accused in the case.
