Pune, March 2 -- Walmik Karad, a close aide of Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Dhananjay Munde, has been named as the main conspirator in the murder case of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh in the 1,400-page charge sheet filed by the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) before a special court in Beed district, people familiar with the matter said.
Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed, was abducted, tortured and murdered allegedly for attempting to stop an extortion attempt targeting an energy company on December 9 last year. The brutal killing and subsequent arrest of Karad - considered close to minister Munde - in connection with the related extortion case triggered a massive political uproar in Maharashtra.
While the...