Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange on Friday expressed confidence that complete justice would be delivered to the family of Mahadev Munde, who was brutally murdered 21 months ago in Parli Vaijnath. Speaking at an all-party and all-faith meeting in Beed, Jarange thanked the public for their continued support. "Because of your strength, this movement has gained mo-mentum," he said. The meeting was attended by Santosh Deshmukh and members of the Munde family, who have been demanding justice since the incident. Jarange assured the gathering that the accused would not be spared under any circumstances.
Mahadev Munde, who worked as a pigmy agent, was murdered in suspicious circumstances nearly two years ago. Initially, the incident was misrepresented as an acci-dent. However, persistent efforts by the family, particularly his widow, Dnyaneshwari Munde, led to an FIR being filed against unidentified persons. Despite the passage of 21 months, no arrests have been made so far.
Recently, Dnyaneshwari Munde met chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai and briefed him about the case. In response, the government appointed a Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by IPS officer Pankaj Kumawat, to probe the matter.
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Following the SIT formation, Friday's meeting brought together representatives of political parties, religious groups, and civil society, all united in their demand for justice.
Addressing the gathering, Jarange said, "The mafia of beneficiaries will be dealt firmly. Their arrogance and impunity will not be tolerated. I have no enmity with any brother or sister, but their cronies were warned and still did not mend their ways. Now they will face the consequences."
He further asked, "When a family is grieving, what's the need to pursue a ministerial post? A poor family has been left helpless, the dignity of a woman has been compromised, and the children are vulnerable. In such circumstances, power is meaningless." Jarange also backed Dnyaneshwari Munde's sub-mission of suspects' names and demanded their immediate arrest.
"If there is any injustice, come forward, I am with you," he assured the crowd. He reaffirmed his commitment to work for the op-pressed communities among Marathas, Muslims, and Dalits and vowed that the 'beneficiary mafia' would not be spared. "This is my promise to the Maratha community, Mahadev Munde's family will get justice," he declared.
The meeting was attended by several prominent leaders, including MP Bajrang Sona-wane, MLAs Sandeep Kshirsagar and Prakash Solanke, former MLA Syed Salim, Dhananjay Deshmukh (brother of slain Massajog sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh), Prabhakar Kolangade, Rajebhau Phad, and Bala Bangar. Of-fice-bearers of various polit-ical parties and citizens from across communities also participated.