Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. File
| Photo Credit: PTI
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday (January 5, 2025) yet again assured that the State Government was probing the Beed sarpanch murder case with full determination and that not a single person would be spared, no matter who they were or what power or position they held.
Speaking to journalists in Nagpur, Mr. Fadnavis urged political leaders not to politicise the murder case and that the government and the Beed police were actively working on the case with full determination. “Everyone is working in full strength to trace the accused who are absconding. No one will be spared who has been behind the murder of Santosh Deshmukh. Please allow the investigation agencies to do their job properly and have faith in judiciary.”
Also Read: Beed sarpanch murder case: All-party march in Parbhani demanding arrest of all accused
In Mumbai, social activist Anjali Damania held a press conference and alleged that she had been receiving threatening calls from the party workers of Ministers Dhananjay Munde, Pankaja Munde and Walmik Karad for demanding justice in the Deshmukh’s murder case.
“I am mentally tortured every day. The Vanjari community is being used by Dhananjay Munde and Pankaja Munde to mentally harass me. I have never been against any community, but I am facing criticism on social media by their party workers who are accusing me of creating social disharmony for calling out the Vanjari community. All I had said was that since the times of late BJP leader Gopinath Munde, all the government appointees in Beed are from one community.”
She further alleged, “The police in the Beed district belong to a particular community bond with Mr. Karad and they will not be able to investigate him. I have received 700 to 800 phone calls from the Beed district alone. The investigation in the case is nothing but a hogwash. How will district police investigate impartially when they work under the instructions of people like Mr. Walmik Karad and salute him? For a fair trial, the case needs to be probed by agencies outside the district.”
She also had a meeting with Director General of Police Rashmi Shukla and urged the Chief Minister to help her out.
Responding to Ms. Damania, the Chief Minister told journalists, “Whatever complaint Anjali Damania has, she should approach the nearest police station and report her concerns, and they will definitely act on it.”
NCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule said, “Take away my security but give security to Anjali Damania. It is a matter of a woman’s safety.”
On Sunday (January 5, 2025), a ‘Jan Akrosh Morcha’ all-party protest march was organised in Pune demanding the death penalty for the murder accused. The march was attended by BJP MLA Suresh Dhas, NCP (SP) MP Bajrang Sonawane, Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil along with Deshmukh’s family members. The protesters carried banners and posters raising slogans of swift and stringent action against the Beed and Parbhani murder accused.
Mr. Suresh Dhas said he would not rest until the murderers were punished and said Beed had not turned into ‘Bihar’ but ‘Hamas’ and ‘Taliban’. He again demanded that if NCP Minister Dhananjay Munde did not resign then he should remain in the State Cabinet as a minister but without any portfolio till a chargesheet was filed in the murder case.
NCP spokesperson Suraj Chavan took to X (formerly Twitter) and objected to Mr. Dhas’s constant attack on Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar over the murder of a sarpanch in Beed district. Mr. Chavan asked whether or not Mr. Suresh Dhas had faith in the State Home Department, which had been constantly assuring of a fair and transparent investigation in the Beed case. “If anyone from the NCP is found to be involved in the murder of the sarpanch, Ajit Pawar will not think once to act against them.”
Published – January 05, 2025 06:52 pm IST