How Walmik Karad gained prominence

Dhananjay Munde's close aide rose from the ranks to become one of Beed's movers and shakers

- Nadeem Inamdar and Faisal Malik

PUNE/MUMBAI: At a Dussehra gathering in 2024 at Bhagwanbaba Gadh, in Beed district, when Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pankaja Munde stood up to introduce prominent leaders on the dais, she was interrupted by loud chants from the crowd facing her - everyone asked for Walmik Karad, who was in the audience. Pankaja, now a minister in the state cabinet, responded to the chants from the audience with a barbed remark: "Where is Walmik Karad without whom Dhananjay Munde can't function?"

The crowd cheered on, as Dhananjay Munde, her cousin, a senior NCP leader and minister, looked uneasy on the dais.

Pankaja's remark was not an exaggeration. For years, Karad has been the right-hand man of Dhananjay. His proximity to power made him a force to reckon with in Beed, but on Tuesday, Karad's fall from grace became official.

After evading authorities for weeks, he surrendered to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Pune-headquartered State Criminal Investigation Department (CID). He arrived at the CID's Pashan office in a Scorpio driven by one of his supporters. (He is known to own a fleet of swanky cars.) Minutes before this, he released a video to his supporters with a message: "I am surrendering before the police despite having the right to avail pre-arrest bail. I am ready to face any punishment if found guilty."

Karad, in his early 50s, is entangled in a web of criminal investigations, including a ₹2 crore extortion bid from Avaada Group, a renewable energy company, in Beed, which is linked to the murder of Santosh Deshmukh, a sarpanch of Massajog village, on December 9. Since the murder came to light, the opposition has been demanding Dhananjay Munde's resignation.

"Santosh Deshmukh's murder case should be sent to a fast-track court, and until the verdict is out, Dhananjay Munde should step down from the cabinet," said Sandip Kshirsagar, an NCP (SP) legislator.