Mumbai, Dec 30 Adopting an aggressive stance, Union Minister of State for Social Justice Ramdas Athawale demanded the immediate arrest of the killers of Massajog (Beed) Sarpanch and the cops responsible for the death of a Dalit youth in Parbhani judicial custody, on Monday.
The Republican Party of India (A) President Athawale called on the families of the murdered Sarpanch Santosh Pandit Deshmukh (Beed), and a law student Somnath Vyankat Suryawanshi, 35, (Parbhani) who was nabbed after the violence following the defiling of a statue of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar (December 10).
"The inexplicable delay in nabbing (Deshmukh's) killers does not portend well. Merely attaching the properties of the absconding killers is not enough. The government must immediately arrest the killers (of Deshmukh)," demanded Athawale in Beed.
The Central minister's visit came even as an all-party silent protest march was taken out in Buldhana on Monday, after similar marches in Beed and Latur last week.
He met and consoled the widow Ashwini S. Deshmukh, their children Viraj and Vaibhavi and the late Sarpanch's brother Dhananjay Deshmukh, and promised to ensure justice for Santosh P. Deshmukh.
Athawale pointed out that the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had assured the legislature that strong action would be taken in the matter, while assuring to raise the matter with the MahaYuti state government and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Deshmukh, 45, was abducted, brutally tortured and killed (December 9), after he attempted to foil an extortion racket outside a windmill company, and both incidents have snowballed into a major political row.
Later, in Parbhani, Athawale met the kind of Suryawanshi’s family members and was told that he hailed from Latur, the family lived in Pune, but he (Suryawanshi) was staying in Parbhani to pursue his law course.
"There was intense anger after the desecration of Dr Ambedkar’s statue (Dec. 10). This angst led to violence the next day in Parbhani. However, it was not so serious to warrant such brutal action by the police on the protestors,” observed Athawale.
Besides the police caning (lathi-charge) and hundreds of people, mostly Dalits being rounded up, Athawale said that more than a dozen youth including boys and girls were injured in the police swoop on the protesting crowds (December 11).
“We have demanded action against the police officials who were responsible for the lathi-charge which led to Suryawanshi’s death in judicial custody. The police must also be booked for injuring the boys and girls, as well as the detention or arrests of hundreds of others,” a grim Athawale said.
The Parbhani-Beed incidents have created a national furore with Opposition bigwigs including Congress’ Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi going to Parbhani (December 23), Nationalist Congress Party (SP) President Sharad Pawar (December 21) and many other state leaders.
Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) President has called upon Fadnavis to give compensation of Rs 1 crore to Suryawanshi's kin and a government job to one of the family members, besides carrying out a survey of all victims of police excesses.
Meanwhile, CDR records of the prime absconder Walmik Karad allegedly linked to the Sarpanch killing reveal that he was on the run, posting photos and greeting from Pune and Ujjain days later.
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