Beed sarpanch murder: All-party march held in Parbhani demanding arrest of all accused

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An all-party march demanding a deeper investigation into the Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh murder case was organised in Maharashtra's Parbhani city on Saturday, PTI reported.

The morcha started from the Nutan College ground and will culminate at the Shivaji Maharaj's statue.

Deshmuskh, the sarpanch of Beed district's Massajog village, was kidnapped, tortured and murdered on December 9 prima facie for attempting to stop an extortion bid on an energy firm operating a windmill project in the area, PTI reported.

Till now, the police have arrested six out of the seven individuals involved in the murder.

The opposition has demanded the resignation of Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Dhananjay Munde after his close aide Walmik Karad was arrested in the extortion case in connection to Deshmukh's murder, PTI reported.

As per PTI, Public representatives from the opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) and ruling Maratha quota leader Manoj Jarange, along with family members of the deceased Santosh Deshmukh joined the march.

Earlier, Parbhani witnessed violence after a glass-encased replica of the Constitution was vandalised.

The death of the Dalit man, Somnath Suryavanshi, arrested in relation to the violence in judicial custody triggered fresh protest, PTI reported.

Beed sarpanch murder: SIT questions three individuals, including man close to absconding accused

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Crime Investigation Department probing the murder of Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh has questioned three persons, sources told news agency PTI.

Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village, was abducted, tortured and murdered on December 9 for attempting to stop an extortion bid on an energy firm helming a windmill project in the region.

Sources said on Friday that one of the three men questioned is a doctor and a close to absconding accused Sudarshan Ghule, reported PTI.

Police believe this man helped Ghule flee.

Several police teams have been deployed to arrest those on the run, they said.

Meanwhile, Vishnu Chate, one of the persons arrested in the extortion case linked to Deshmukh's murder, told CID officials he had called the project manager of the energy company from his mobile phone, reported PTI.

He also told police about a conversation between key accused Walmik Karad and the project manager, sources told PTI.

The Crime Investigation Department (CID) arrested Karad in Pune after he surrendered on Tuesday in connection with a Rs 2 crore extortion case linked to Deshmukh's murder. Karad was remanded in 14-day police custody.

(With PTI inputs)