
Family members of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, who was allegedly tortured to death in Beed district, speak to the media after a meeting with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, in Mumbai, on January 7, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Dhananjay Deshmukh, brother of slain Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, climbed a village water tank on Monday (January 13,2025) and threatened to jump alleging that information about the investigation was not shared with the family.
He demanded that the accused in the extortion case linked to sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh’s murder be booked under murder charges.

Family members of the slain sarpanch and Opposition leaders are demanding that State minister Dhananjay Munde’s aide Walmik Karad, arrested in a related extortion case, be booked for murder.
The brother of the sarpanch had claimed a potential threat to his life from the murder accused once they were freed.
Santosh Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village, was abducted, tortured, and murdered on December 9. Preliminary investigation suggests that the sarpanch had tried to thwart an extortion bid on an energy firm operating a windmill project in the region.
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The brother had climbed the water tank around noon on Monday, a day after he warned of staging agitation on a mobile phone network tower and jumping to death.
The agitation caused a flutter in Massajog village as Dhananjay refused to heed the pleas of his family members and villagers.
Maratha quota leader Manoj Jarange and Beed superintendent of police (SP) Navneet Kanwat reached the spot and convinced Dhananjay to come down.
On the SP’s assurance, Dhanajay came down around 2.30 pm..

Earlier, Mr. Jarange spoke to Dhananjay over the phone and told him that officials of CID would be asked to visit the village.
“Please come down. I will talk to you. I can come up if you want,” Mr. Kanwat said.
Police have so far arrested seven persons in the Santosh Deshmukh murder case, while one accused is on the run. All the eight accused have been booked under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Maharashtra CID is probing the murder and extortion cases.
Dhananjay had claimed the information regarding the murder probe had not been shared with the family for the last 35 days.
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After climbing down the water tank, he told reporters that he trusted Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ assurance on the probe.
“The Chief Minister had assured that the accused will get capital punishment. The government should ensure that our trust is not broken. They should set an example by booking the accused (in the extortion case) for murder and send a message to society that such crime won’t be tolerated,” he said.
Dhananjay further said his agitation was not a drama but a serious yearning for justice for his brother. He alleged that CID officials didn’t record statements of the Deshmukh family.
“Police had shown me the photo of Sudarshan Ghule (an arrested accused in the murder case). Did they want to threaten me?” he asked.
Published – January 13, 2025 05:49 pm IST