SANDEEP CHAURE ALLEGEDLY ASKED FOR A BRIBE OF ₹20 LAKH IN A LAND RELATED CASE

NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar likely to be part of all-party silent march on Saturday

- Faisal Malik

MUMBAI: The political storm over the murder of a sarpanch in Beed district earlier this month picked up on Wednesday, with Congress leaders Balasaheb Thorat and Amit Deshmukh and Maratha activist Manoj Jarange-Patil meeting the family of the deceased Santosh Deshmukh. Opposition parties have been piling pressure on the Maharashtra government and Beed district administration to take action against the accused, including a close aide of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) minister Dhananjay Munde.

Several Opposition leaders have visited Beed since the abduction and murder of Massajog village sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh on December 9, including the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, and NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar. An all-party silent march has been called in the district on Saturday, in which Pawar is likely to participate, according to NCP (SP) leaders.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Deshmukh's daughter, Vaibhavi, said her family was not satisfied with the progress of the investigation so far. "Even after deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar's assurance, nothing has happened so far. We want justice at the earliest," she said. Ajit Pawar had met the Deshmukh family on Saturday.

Over 28,000 gram panchayats in the state will observe a bandh on January 9 to protest against Deshmukh's murder. Social activist Anjali Damania on Wednesday declared she would hold a sit-in protest in Beed until Walmik Karad, one of the accused who is a close aide of NCP's Munde, is arrested.

Opposition parties have also called for Munde's sacking, alleging that he has been supporting Karad. Sandeep Kshirsagar, the NCP (SP) MLA from Beed, said, "Munde saheb himself accepted his proximity with Karad. If he remains in that ministerial position, then people are not sure there will be an impartial probe."