A special court in Maharashtra's Beed has held that Walmik Karad, the prime accused in the murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, appeared to be a member of an organised crime syndicate involved in unlawful activities. MCOCA judge, V H Patwadkar, while rejecting Karad's discharge application in the case last week, stated that he and co-accused shot a video of the attack on the victim "to create terror of their gang".
Considering the material on record, the court said prima facie, Karad appears to be a member of an organised crime syndicate and involved in "continuing unlawful activities". The court noted that "the accused persons allegedly shot a video and made video calls to others while mercilessly beating Deshmukh in order to create terror of their gang/syndicate".
Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed district, was abducted and tortured to death on December 9 last year, allegedly for attempting to stop an extortion bid targeting an energy company. Eight persons, including Karad, have been arrested so far and booked under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has filed a chargesheet running into more than 1,200 pages in the murder case and two related offences in the court. Karad, in his discharge plea, claimed he had been falsely implicated in the case due to political motivations.
On MCOCA charges, the accused contended that no such crime syndicate existed, and he was not a member. The prosecution, while opposing his plea, gave a detailed account of the alleged conspiracy and its execution. It also alleged that Karad conspired with the co-accused to demand a ransom of Rs 2 crore from Avaada Energy Private Ltd. to allow them to operate their business in Kaij Taluka.
They reportedly threatened to halt the company's work if the ransom was not paid, it said. The prosecution further claimed that when Deshmukh intervened, Karad and the co-accused allegedly conspired, kidnapped, and fatally assaulted him, leading to his death.
They then dumped Deshmukh's body at Daithana Phata and fled, the police said. The prosecution also pointed out that Karad had been booked in 20 cases previously, with seven offences being registered in the last 10 years. The court noted that statements of witnesses, along with electronic, digital, scientific, and forensic evidence, prima facie demonstrate Karad's complicity in the crime.