India, March 4 -- Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Dhananjay Munde resigned as Maharashtra minister on Tuesday amid mounting pressure on him to quit following the arrest of his aide in the murder of a village head tortured to death in Beed in December.

Munde cited health reasons among the causes for his resignation even as people aware of the matter said the top leadership of Maharashtra's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led ruling coalition asked him to resign as the pictures and videos of Santosh Deshmukh's torture before his murder went viral and sparked fresh outrage.

In a post on X, Munde maintained he had been demanding the strictest punishment for the accused. He cited visuals of Deshmukh's torture and said he was deeply sadd...