Mumbai: Police investigation into the sensational murder of Santosh Deshmukh, sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed district on December 9, received a major boost on Saturday with the arrest of three absconding suspects on Saturday. Earlier, four persons were arrested.
The murder has become a major political issue in Maharashtra with the opposition parties and even two leaders of the ruling Maha Yuti alliance demanding the immediate resignation of minister for food and civil supplies Dhananjay Munde of the NCP (Ajit Pawar) who is perceived to be close to one of the arrested persons Walmik Karad.
Interestingly, Karad's name figures in an FIR for alleged extortion and not in the murder of Deshmukh. But many are of the opinion that fair investigation cannot be held as long as Munde is in power. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is in a fix because he is under pressure from his alliance partner and deputy CM Ajit Pawar not to jettison Munde, who is a prominent OBC leader.
The controversy has taken a casteist turn with Maratha leader Manoj Jarange Patil leading the campaign against Munde. Deshmukh belonged to the Maratha community. Munde is also related to cabinet minister and BJP leader Pankaja Munde.
On Saturday, two of the wanted persons, Sudarshan Ghule (26) and Sudhir Sangle (23), were picked up from Pune, while Siddharth Sonawane was held from Kalyan in Thane district. Ghule and Sangle are named in the FIR for the murder while Sonawane's name surfaced during the investigation.
Police suspect that Sonawane, a resident of Massajog, did the recce for the brutal murder. Ghule and Sangle were handed over to the SIT set up by Fadnavis, who is heading the home department. Police have so far arrested seven persons while one more accused is still absconding.
The police had earlier arrested Jairam Change (21), Mahesh Kedar (21), Prateek Ghule (24) and Vishnu Chate (45) while another accused Krishna Andhale is still at large.
Deshmukh was whisked away from his village by a group, tortured most brutally over a period of about four hours and his body was dumped on the way saide. He was reportedly targeted because he had opposed the extortion efforts of Karad and others. A windmill company had filed an FIR for extortion against Karad and others for allegedly demanding Rs 2 cr.
The police has been under tremendous pressure because of allegations that it has not been able to identify and arrest the mastermind behind the murder. The Fadnavis government has been facing acute embarrassment since a BJP MLA Suresh Dhas is in the forefront of the protest to secure justice for the Deshmukh family. Dhas said one look at the body of Desmukh, which bore over 70 stab injuries, and he decided to take up the issue even though it meant embarrassing his party's government.
The probe team interrogated three persons to trace the absconding men, appointed informants and used technical skills to nab the two accused, officials said. A police official said a "doctor" picked up from Nanded district proved to be a crucial link that led police to two accused in Pune.
"Police monitored movements of Dr Sambhaji Vaybhase after his alleged links with Sudarshan Ghule surfaced during the investigation," sources in Beed Police said. After questioning, police handed over Vaybhase to the CID, they said refusing to elaborate. Dhas said the arrested persons are mere pawns, while the mastermind is roaming free. (With inputs from PTI).
