On 4th March, Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde quit from Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis cabinet after the chief minister demanded his resignation over allegations linking his close associate, Walmik Karad, to the murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh from Massajog village in the Beed district. According to police chargesheet, the Sapanch from Beed was tortured and murdered in December as the attackers took 8 pictures, shot 15 videos, and even made 2 video calls, recording the savagery.
The images and videos are included in the 1200-page charge sheet that the Crime Investigation Department (CID) filed with the Beed court on 27th February.
“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,” Dhananjay Munde wrote and said that he has resigned due to medical advice.
“Seeing the photos that surfaced yesterday, I was deeply saddened. The investigation into this matter has been completed and the charge sheet has been filed in the court. Also, a judicial inquiry is proposed”, Munde added.
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.
— Dhananjay Munde (@dhananjay_munde) March 4, 2025
या प्रकरणाचा तपास पूर्ण झाला असून आरोपपत्र न्यायालयात दाखल झाले आहे. तसेच,…
Maharashtra CM Fadnavis also confirmed the development saying, “Maharashtra Minister Dhananjay Munde has tendered his resignation today. I have accepted the resignation and sent it to the Governor CP Radhakrishnan for further course of action,” while talking to reporters at Vidhan Bhawan.
According to media reports, the development was followed by his meeting with Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on previous day’s evening. The two Mahayuti leaders talked about the implications of the charge sheet in the murder case as well as two other incidents in which Karad has been implicated as the mastermind. Afterward, Munde was asked to step aside from his position due to his strong relationship with the accused.
#WATCH | Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis says, "Maharashtra Minister Dhananjay Munde has tendered his resignation today. I have accepted the resignation and sent it to the Governor for further course of action." https://t.co/S8YYzZxr7D pic.twitter.com/DpxcIUWsrZ
— ANI (@ANI) March 4, 2025
The accused in the Sarpanch murder case, Karad, has already been booked under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in relation to the extortion of Rs 2 crore from Avaada Energy, the developer of a wind power project, and assaulting a security guard of the company. He was arrested on 31st December of last year.
Munde, an NCP (Nationalist Congress Party-Ajit Pawar) MLA from the Parli constituency in Beed district, was the state minister of food and civil supplies and served as the guardian minister of Beed earlier. Now, Ajit Pawar is the guardian minister of Beed and Pune districts. Dhananjay Munde joined the party in 2013.
Dhananjay Munde is a relative of Maharashtra minister Pankaja Munde and the nephew of the late Bharatiya Janata Party stalwart Gopinath Munde. He supported Ajit Pawar when the original Sharad Pawar-led party split in 2023. He formerly held the positions of state minister in the Uddhav Thackeray administration and leader of the opposition in the legislative council.
Background of the chilling muder case
On 9th December 2024, 45-year-old Santosh Deshmukh, a three-time sarpanch of Massajog village in the Parli tehsil, was abducted, tortured and killed. According to the charge sheet, Karad directed the other perpetrator Sudarshan Ghule to eliminate everyone who stood in his path of extorting money from the wind energy company. Several threats were made against the victim which eventually resulted in his horrible fate.
According to the report, Karad and other individuals sought Rs 2 crore from the Avaada firm, which has invested over Rs 300 crore in a power generation project in Beed. It was reported that between 8th and 9th December, 2024, Karad, Vishnu Chate, Sudarshan Ghule, Pratik Ghule, Sudhir Sangle, Krushna Andhale, Jayram Chate and Mahesh Kedar reached an agreement to extort the amount from Avaada.
The report disclosed that they intended to spread their “terror” throughout the entire region and also made the decision to kill or exterminate everyone who stood in opposition to them. Karad had previously used Chate’s phone to extort Rs 2 crore from Avaada company officials on 29th November 2024.
Sudarshan Ghule arrived at Avaada Massajog village location that same day and insisted that its representatives meet Karad’s demand. The report added that on the same day, Karad met with Vishnu Chate, Sudarshan Ghule, Pratik Ghule, Sudhir Sangle and Krushna Andhale at Chate’s office in Kej to determine how to proceed with the extortion. Sudarshan Ghule, Pratik Ghule and Sudhir Sangle then visited the company’s site in Massajog village on 6th December, argued with its employees and ordered that they halt the operation.
Meanwhile, Santosh Deshmukh reached the scene and asked the accused to “let people get employment, don’t shut the company’s work.” According to the report, Sudarshan Ghule threatened him, “We will see you, we will not spare you.” On 8th December 2024, Shivaji Thopte, an official from the Avaada company, met Karad at his Parli office in front of Chate. Afterward, Karad asked for Rs 2 crore from him, failing which the business would have to stop its operations in the Beed area. Chate continuously threatened Deshmukh over the phone after the incident.
“If such hurdles come in our way, then no company will pay us extortion money. Whosoever comes in our way should be eliminated. Get going and talk to Vishnu Chate, he will help you,” Karad instructed Sudarshan Ghule on 7th December. According to the report, Chate destroyed his cell phone after the murder, which was a crucial piece of evidence in this case. Additionally, Sudarshan Ghule and the other offenders had been involved in the organized crime.
The charge sheets have been filed in eight of the eleven cases that have been recorded against them in the murder case of Santosh Deshmukh. Three cases, including the murder of the Sarpanch, the attempt to extort money from the Avaada company, and the assault on the company’s security guard, have been submitted. Eight defendants have been charged under the strict Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). One accused is still at large, while seven have been taken into custody.
Santosh Deshmukh’s brutal killing
Santosh Deshmukh was kidnapped and slain for trying to stop the extortion bid. Six individuals kidnapped him near Dongaon toll plaza and drove him in an SUV toward Kej taluka, with a silver Swift car following the SUV. He was discovered unconscious that same evening near Daithna Shivar, which is close to Nandur Ghat Road. The search squad from the Beed Police took him to a hospital, where they pronounced him dead.
The culprits battered Deshmukh between 3:30 pm and 6 pm, using a 41-inch gas pipe with a black string handle, a white pipe, an iron rod, with five clutch wires, wooden sticks and a “fighter and dharkatti” (both sharp weapons). One of the videos featured five men, including Sudarshan Ghule, punching and kicking him in addition to lashing him with a wooden rod and a white pipe. The footage captured Deshmukh in a partially naked position and being forced to sit on the ground.
Deshmukh was shown being forced to chant, “Sudarshan Ghule is the father of all,” by the accused in a different video. According to the charge sheet, he was seen bleeding heavily as another assailant urinated on him. According to an official who cited the charge sheet, the recordings of the cruelty were recorded on Kedar’s smartphone and range in length from two seconds to two and a half minutes.
According to the charge sheet, wanted accused Krishna Andhale made two WhatsApp video calls from his cell phone while Deshmukh suffered from torture. The first call was made at 5:14 pm and the second at 5:26 pm but the caller was not identified in the report. Police have reportedly found 15 broken parts of a white pipe that was blunt and hard, at the location.
The CID discovered during the inquiry that Sudarshan Ghule is the head of a crime syndicate in the central Maharashtra region of Beed. His gang is active in the Beed district’s Kej, Ambajogai and Dharur districts, along with Kalamb in the nearby Dharashiv district, and has been involved in 11 major offenses. He was in regular contact with Karad and Chate before the murder. Sunil Shinde, an Avaada project officer, was abducted by him on 28th May of last year in order to extort money. The victim later filed a complaint against him at the Kej Police Station.
Police mentioned that the accused chose to kill Santosh Deshmukh because they believed he was interfering with their plans. Deshmukh received multiple threats and met the gruesome fate when he didn’t comply.
Dhananjay Munde is linked to Walmik Karad and the opposition began calling for action as the inquiry revealed the latter’s involvement in the horrifying murder. Furthermore, the opposition received more ammunition after filing of the charge sheet. However, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis swiftly took cognizance of the situation as shocking images of the abuse appeared on TV and social media and initiated action.
