The bone-chilling murder of Santosh Deshmukh, sarpanch of Massajog village, Kaij tehsil in Maharashtra’s Beed district, has come to light. On December 9, 2024, Deshmukh was allegedly murdered after he was struck 350 times by rods. When he asked for water, the accused instead urinated in his mouth. And all this cruelty was allegedly streamed live on a video call to a “politically powerful” person of Beed district.
The Opposition as well as the ruling BJP and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders alleged that the person watching the murder “live” was Walmik Karad, a close aide of Maharashtra’s Food and Civil Supplies Minister Dhananjay Munde. Deshmukh’s murder has thus opened a Pandora’s box, revealing Beed’s sinister politics that thrives on brutal muscle force and money power.
Karad has been a notorious figure in Beed: he has been absconding in an extortion case, lodged against him by staffer of the Avaada windmill company. Police say that four people accused in the murder case had visited the company on December 6. They were stopped at the gate by a doorkeeper from Massajog where Deshmukh was sarpanch. The four persons were offended and threatened the doorkeeper, who called Deshmukh for help. The sarpanch came to the spot. This is where the altercation between Deshmukh and four men took place. Three days later, the accused kidnapped Deshmukh and murdered him.
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On December 12, the staffer of Avaada lodged an FIR against Karad for demanding Rs.2 crore as extortion money. He was absconding since then. On December 31, Karad surrendered to the Maharashtra CID in Pune.
The circumstances of Deshmukh’s murder spread like wildfire. The sarpanch was Maratha. He was with the BJP and looking after the booth of his Massajog village in the recent elections. The men arrested so far—Vishnu Chate (NCP’s former tehsil chief), Jayram Chate, Mahesh Karad, and Pratik Ghule—are all from the OBC Vanjari community. Beed has been the epicentre of caste rifts in Marathwada. After the Maratha community’s reservation demand under the OBC category intensified, Beed witnessed violent protests in November 2023.
Outrage across party lines
Deshmukh’s murder was viewed from the caste angle—but it was not just about caste. The battle for supremacy in Beed is also a reason behind the vehement politics around the issue. Dhananjay Munde’s way of functioning has always been under the scanner. He was Guardian Minister of Beed district in the Eknath Shinde-led government as well as the Uddhav Thackeray government. Apart from his inner circle, Beed’s leaders across party lines oppose him.
Suresh Dhas, BJP MLA from Beed’s Ashti constituency, has taken the lead in condemning the Deshmukh murder and has exposed Munde’s alleged criminal activities. From NCP (Ajit Pawar), MLA Prakash Solanke is also taking on Munde. But Dhas and Solanke, both being Maratha, their stance is again being viewed through a caste prism. Maratha organisations have demanded that Munde be removed from the Cabinet. But the Mahayuti, especially Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, have ignored the demand.
As for the opposition, NCP (Sharad Pawar) MLA Jitendra Awhad has attacked Munde too. Awhad, in an emotional speech in the Assembly, asked Fadnavis to sack Munde from the Cabinet and arrest Karad. Like Munde, Awhad too is from the Vanjari community but the leaders are fiercely fighting each other.
When Dhananjay Munde (now Maharashtra’s Food and Civil Supplies Minister) decided to switch from the BJP to the NCP in 2011, Karad became his shadow. A file photo.
| Photo Credit:
VIVEK BENDRE
Notably, the police, have not yet included Karad (absconding from December 12 to 31, 2024) in the murder case. Fadnavis said that if the police received any proof of Karad’s involvement in the case, he would take strict action. This was astonishing for people at large, who took it as the BJP and the NCP (Ajit Pawar) shielding Karad and Munde.
Meanwhile, Deshmukh’s family called a massive rally on December 22 in Beed, reportedly attended by nearly one lakh people who called for Karad’s arrest. Maratha organisations publicly supported the rally. The leader of the community, Manoj Jarange-Patil, addressed the rally along with Awhad, Dhas, NCP leader Prakash Solanke, and Sandip Kshirsagar, MLA and NCP (Sharad Pawar) leader.
Jarange-Patil threatened that if the State government did not arrest Karad, similar marches would be organised across Maharashtra. Interestingly, Abhimanyu Pawar, BJP MLA from Ausa constituency in the neighbouring Latur district, and considered a close aide of Fadnavis, also participated in the rally. The following day, Abhimanyu met Fadnavis in Mumbai and briefed him on the public mood. The government realised it had no option but to take Karad in custody.
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On December 31, Karad issued a video statement where he said that the December 12 case of extortion against him was “fake”. He added: “I have an option of anticipatory bail. But I will surrender to Pune CID. Police should take strict action against the killers of Santosh Deshmukh and they should be hanged. I have nothing to do with the murder of Deshmukh.” Awhad responded to this video: “Karad is behaving like a boss of the police. He is deciding where to surrender. Police, under political pressure, couldn’t take action. This is a blot on the Maharashtra police.”
With Karad in the spotlight, multiple deeds and his style of functioning have been tumbling out. Dhas, in his speech in the Assembly, alleged that Karad used “to run” Munde’s Agriculture Ministry in 2023 and 2024, before the State election. “There was a 20 per cent cut on all procurements and even subsidies on agricultural apparatus in last two years. People first had to pay Karad before sanctioning their work,” claimed Dhas. The BJP MLA also alluded to fraudulent operations in the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. “Rs.500 crores had gone to fake farmers and applicants in last two years. All the cartel was being managed by Walmik,” said Dhas.
The barefoot shadow
Karad did not become Munde’s go-to man in one day. He has been around for Munde’s family since the 1980s. He first met Gopinath Munde, the late BJP leader and Dhananjay Munde’s uncle. When Gopinath Munde became a State-level leader, his younger brother Pandit Anna Munde, Dhananjay Munde’s father, used to look after Beed district politics, and Karad was close to him too. When Dhananjay Munde decided to switch from the BJP to the NCP in 2011, muscle man Karad became his shadow. In the 2014 Assembly election, Dhananjay Munde lost to his cousin Pankaja, daughter of Gopinath Munde. Karad vowed that he would not wear footwear until Dhananjay Munde won Parali.
When in 2019 Munde defeated Pankaja, Karad’s work was done. But he would continue to walk barefoot for many days. In 2019, Munde became Social Justice Minister in the Uddhav Thackeray government. At this time, Karad would run operations in Beed. In 2023, when Munde became Agriculture Minister in the Eknath Shinde government, Karad changed his centre of operations to Mumbai. He has since been running the show in the Agriculture Ministry, according to reports.
Karad’s arrest is not just a big political setback for Munde alone; it is a blot on the entire Mahayuti government. And it is the first big test of credibility for Fadnavis in his fresh term as Chief Minister.
