Slain sarpanch of Massajog in Beed district, Santosh Deshmukh’s brother Dhananjay Deshmukh and his family members staged demonstrations by climbing the water tank in Massajog village on Monday. They demanded that the accused in the murder, Valmik Karad, should be charged with murder and that cases under section 302 of IPC should be imposed on him.
Santosh Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog, was kidnapped and brutally murdered around one month ago. A strong resentment over the murder of Deshmukh has been expressed from all strata of society across the state. Deshmukh's family members, especially his brother Dhananjay and daughter Vaibhavi Deshmukh, had been demanding fast justice for their family. The police had arrested three accused in this connection, including Valmik Karad.
However, the Deshmukh family had registered dissatisfaction over the investigation in the case. On Monday, Dhananjay Deshmukh, dodging the police, climbed the water tank in Massajog and staged an agitation. He demanded that a case of murder should be registered against Karad and that the link of extortion in the murder case should be investigated. He took the stand that he would not come down from the tank unless the case of murder was registered.
Maratha reservation leader Manoj Jarange Patil and Beed district SP Navneet Kawant rushed to the spot and assured Deshmukh that his demands would be accepted, but Deshmukh wanted to talk with the investigating officers of the investigation team. Kawant assured him that a meeting with the officers would be held immediately.
Jarange tried to convince Dhananjay for around two hours and urged him to come down from the tank. He was on the spot for around two hours and talked with Dhananjay on the phone. Earlier, Dhananjay had announced that he would initiate the agitation by climbing the mobile tower. Hence, the police had imposed a bandobast in his house at Massajog. On Monday, Dhananjay dodged the policemen and the media stationed in front of his house and climbed the water tank.
Jarange succeeded in convincing him, and he came down after two hours. Vaibhavi Deshmukh, the residents of Massajog, and others from different parts of the district were also present on the occasion.
