Beed, Nov. 30 -- The family of slain sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh marked his first death anniversary with a kirtan ceremony at Massajog village in Beed district, as legal proceedings in the murder case continue with limited progress.
Family sources said on Saturday that the 45-year-old village leader was abducted and murdered on December 9, 2024, after intervening to stop an extortion operation targeting Avaada Energy, a wind power company operating in the drought-affected Marathwada region.
Deshmukh first had a confrontation with a group led by Sudarshan Ghule on December 6, 2024, at the Avaada Energy project site.
Three days later, the same group abducted Deshmukh near the Dongaon toll plaza, tortured him for approximately three hours, an...