Beed sarpanch murder: MCOCA court sends Walmik Karad sent in 7-day custody of SIT

Walmik Karad. File Pic/PTI

A special court for Maharashtra Control Of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in Maharashtra's Beed city on Wednesday remanded Walmik Karad in 7-day custody of SIT, reported the PTI.

Walmik Karad, an associate of NCP minister Dhananjay Munde, was on Tuesday booked under the stringent MCOCA.

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Subsequently, the police approached the special MCOCA court for his custody.

Karad is an alleged accused in the Beed sarpanch murder case.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Maharashtra police had sought his custody for ten days.

He was produced before the district court in Beed on Wednesday afternoon and remanded in fresh SIT custody till January 22.

Santosh Deshmukh, sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed district, was abducted, tortured and murdered on December 9. Preliminary investigation indicated that Deshmukh had tried to resist an extortion attempt targeting an energy company operating a windmill project in the area, as per the PTI.

Walmik Karad was earlier arrested in the extortion case related to the murder after he surrendered before the police in Pune on December 31.

The MCOCA action happened after Deshmukh's brother Dhananjay and fellow villagers protested in Massajog on Monday demanding MCOCA and murder charges. Dhananjay had climbed up a water tank and got down only after the police assured him of action. The state government had also excluded some members of the SIT a day before, and added new officers to it, whose background was verified for any links with the accused, especially Karad.

As the news of the MCOCA application spread, Walmik Karad's supporters and kin protested in Parli town, calling for shutting shops and businesses. Karad's mother, wife and supporters staged a sit-in protest in front of the police station all day.

Supporters of Walmik Karad on Tuesday threw stones at buses and set tyres on fire in Parli town after MCOCA was invoked against him, police said, as per the PTI.

Hundreds of supporters of Karad targeted buses with stones, set tyres ablaze, and tried to block roads in Parli, officials said. They raised slogans in support of Karad and called for a bandh.

The demonstration was held despite prohibitory orders in place in Beed district till January 28.

Police have registered two cases for damaging public property following Tuesday's incidents, an official said.

Prohibitory orders have been imposed in Beed district till January 28 in view of protests against the murder of a sarpanch and quota-related agitations by Maratha and OBC activists.

The district administration said in a release issued on Monday that assembly of five or more persons without permission from authorities has been prohibited, and people are not allowed to carry weapons in public places.

The Kej police have so far arrested seven persons in the murder case, while another accused is on the run.

(with PTI inputs)