image: Walmik Karad (L), Dhananjay Munde (R) (credit: x.com/drabhijitmore)
Mumbai, Maharashtra: Maharashtra Minister Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Dhananjay Munde submitted resignation on Tuesday (March 4) after his close confidant Walmik Karad was arrested in the sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh murder case. Munde was handling the ministerial portfolio Food and Civil Supplies in the Maharashtra government.
Confirming the news, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said in a statement that he has accepted the resignation and have sent it to the Governor for further action.
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After submitting his resignation, in a post on X written in Marathi, Munde stated, “It has been my firm demand since day one that the accused in the brutal murder of the late Santosh Deshmukh of Massajog in Beed district should be given the strictest punishment. Seeing the photos that surfaced yesterday, I was deeply saddened.”
बीड जिल्ह्यातील मस्साजोगचे स्व. संतोष देशमुख यांच्या निर्घृण हत्येतील आरोपींना कठोरात कठोर शिक्षा व्हावी, ही माझी पहिल्या दिवसापासूनची ठाम मागणी आहे. काल समोर आलेले फोटो पाहून तर मन अत्यंत व्यथित झाले.
या प्रकरणाचा तपास पूर्ण झाला असून आरोपपत्र न्यायालयात दाखल झाले आहे. तसेच,…
— Dhananjay Munde (@dhananjay_munde) March 4, 2025
NCP leader further added that investigation into the case was complete, and a judicial inquiry into the matter had also been proposed. He has also cited health concerns are also reason behind the resignation. “… As my health has not been good for the past few days, the doctor has advised me to undergo treatment for the next few days, therefore, also for medical reasons, I have submitted my resignation from the cabinet to the Hon’ble Chief Minister,” he said in the post.
Dhananjay Munde
Munde is the NCP legislator from Parli in Beed district. Earlier, he served as the Guardian Minister of Beed, but currently, NCP leader Ajit Pawar holds the position. He is a nephew of former Union Minister Gopinath Munde. Munde began his political career in BJP, working with his uncle. He was a former president of party’s youth wing, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM).
However, in 2013, he switched to the NCP, which was then led by Sharad Pawar and during the split in 2023, he sided with Ajit Pawar faction. He has also served as a Cabinet minister in the Uddhav Thackeray-led coalition government. Munde was caught up in many controversies including scams, during his political career.
Sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh Murder Case
Santhosh Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Maharashtra’s Beed, was kidnapped, tortured, and killed on December 9, 2024. He was allegedly preventing an extortion attempt against a windmill energy firm operating in the district and probe found Munde’s close aide Walmik Karad as the mastermind behind the murder.
On February 27, the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of state police submitted a chargesheet of over 1,200 pages at a court in Beed district in Deshmukh’s murder and two related cases.
As per the charge sheet submitted in the case, Police says that Deshmukh was subjected to brutal torture. The initial post-mortem report revealed 56 injuries on Deshmukh’s body. The investigation recovered weapons such as a 3.5 feet-long gas cylinder pipe with iron wires around it, knuckle dusters and wooden batons, which police think were used to torture and murder Deshmukh.
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The Maharashtra CID has also retrieved videos from the mobile phone of the assailants in which they can be seen unleashing assault on Deshmukh. Police reports in the chargesheet that assailants have recorded 15 videos, clicked eight photos and even made two video calls to document the brutality, NDTV reports. The videos and pictures of Deshmukh’s torture went viral on social media and sparked protest.
The police investigation into the case indicated Karad’s role, resulting in lodging charges of murder and extortion against him. He allegedly had contact with other key suspects in the case, including Vishnu Chate and Sudarshan Ghule, both of whom have been arrested in connection with the murder, Indian Express reports. Karad’s close association with Munde traced back over three decades, particularly with latter’s political operations.
