56 Injuries, Urinated Upon: Why Beed Sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh’s Murder Led To Dhananjay Munde’s Resignation?

Last Updated:March 04, 2025, 15:05 IST

Maharashtra sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh thrashed with gas pipe, iron rod, wooden sticks, gas cutter, fighter and dharkatti: What is the link between Walmik Karad and Dhananjay Munde? A look at the Beed case timeline, gory details of the murder from the chargesheet, political pressure and…Read More

(From left) Santosh Deshmukh, Dhananjay Munde and Walmik Karad. (PTI File)

Amid the gory details and chargesheet naming his close aide Walmik Karad in the murder of Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde resigned from the state cabinet on Tuesday.

“Dhananjay Munde has submitted his resignation. I have accepted it and forwarded it to Governor C P Radhakrishnan,” Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told reporters at Vidhan Bhavan.

The Opposition demand for Munde’s resignation intensified after the photos and court chargesheet submitted last week revealed the brutalities committed before the murder.

Munde posted on X: “It has been my firm demand since day one that the accused in the brutal murder of the late Santosh Deshmukh of Massajog in Beed district should be given the strictest punishment. Seeing the photos that surfaced yesterday, I was deeply saddened. The investigation into this matter has been completed and the charge sheet has been filed in the court. Also, a judicial inquiry is proposed. In memory of my MP Vivek Buddhi and as my health has not been good for the past few days, the doctor has advised me to undergo treatment for the next few days, therefore, also for medical reasons, I have submitted my resignation from the cabinet to the Hon’ble Chief Minister.”

THE SANTOSH DESHMUKH MURDER

Deshmukh, 25, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed, was abducted, tortured and murdered on December 9 last year allegedly for attempting to stop an extortion bid targeting an energy company in the district.

The Massajog village head was abducted by six men at Dongaon toll plaza and taken in an SUV towards Kej taluka with a silver Swift car following it. Deshmukh was found unconscious at Daithna Shivar towards Nandur Ghat Road the same evening. His body, riddled with injuries and bearing signs of extreme brutality, was found dumped on the roadside.

He was rushed to a hospital by the Beed police’s search team, where he was declared dead on arrival.

THE CASES & ARRESTS

Three cases have been registered at the Kej police station in Beed:

Murder of sarpanch
Rs 2-crore extortion bid from windmill company Avaada, , which is investing around Rs 300 crore in a power generation project in Beed
Assault on security guard of the firm.

The police have invoked the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against the accused in the cases. The State- Crime Investigation Department (CID), which has formed a special investigation team (SIT), has filed 1,200-page chargesheet in the three cases in a court in Beed district.

THE ARRESTS

Walmik Karad
Sudarshan Ghule
Vishnu Chate
Jairam Chate
Mahesh Kedar
Siddhartha Sonawane
Sudhir Sangale
Prateek Ghule

Krishna Andhale — wanted accused in the case

THRASHED WITH IRON ROD, GAS PIPE, WOODEN STICKS: THE GORY DETAILS FROM CHARGESHEET

As Deshmukh was tortured and killed, the assailants recorded 15 videos, clicked eight photos and even made two video calls, police have said in a chargesheet.

The videos were shot on a smartphone of one of the accused, Mahesh Kedar, and their duration ranges between 2 seconds and 2.04 minutes, an official said, citing the chargesheet, according to PTI.

As per the official, Deshmukh was beaten up by the accused from 3.30 pm to 6 pm using a gas pipe of 41-inch length with a handle with black string, white pipe, an iron rod with five clutch wires, wooden sticks, a “fighter and dharkatti” (both sharp weapons).

In one of the videos, five accused persons, including Sudarshan Ghule, are seen thrashing Deshmukh with a white pipe and a wooden stick besides kicking and punching him. The video shows Deshmukh in a half naked condition and forced to sit on the ground. In another video, accused Sudarshan Ghule is seen forcing Deshmukh to chant, “Sudarshan Ghule is the father of all.”

Another accused urinates on the sarpanch who is seen bleeding profusely, according to the chargesheet.

As Deshmukh was tortured, wanted accused Krishna Andhale made two WhatsApp video calls from his mobile phone, first at 5.14 pm and the second one at 5.26 pm, the chargesheet said without identifying the person to whom the calls were made.

Police have recovered 15 broken pieces of a white pipe from the spot, which was hard and blunt, the official said.

‘SUDARSHAN GHULE IS THE FATHER OF ALL’: 15 VIDEOS, 8 PHOTOS, 2 VIDEO CALLS

During the investigation, the CID found that Sudarshan Ghule runs a crime syndicate in Beed district. His gang faces 11 serious cases and is active in Kej, Ambajogai, Dharur areas of Beed district, and Kalamb in adjoining Dharashiv district, he said. Accused Ghule, Karad and Vishnu Chate were in touch with each other before and after the killing of Deshmukh, the official said.

On May 28, 2024, Ghule had kidnapped Sunil Shinde, project officer with an energy firm, for extortion. The victim later lodged a complaint against Ghule at Kej police station, according to the official.

‘LET PEOPLE GET JOBS’: GHULE HAD TOLD DESHMUKH HE ‘WON’T BE SPARED’

Walmik Karad had on December 7 allegedly asked the other accused to get rid of whoever came in the way of his bid to extort money from a wind energy company, an official said on Sunday, PTI reported. The official was quoting a report attached to a chargesheet filed in the three cases in which Karad, Munde’s close aide, has been mentioned as accused no. 1.

Deshmukh was threatened several times before he was abducted and killed in December last year, the official said citing the report.

Karad was arrested after he surrendered on December 31.

According to the report, accused Karad, Vishnu Chate, Sudarshan Ghule, Pratik Ghule, Sudhir Sangle, Krushna Andhale, Jayram Chate and Mahesh Kedar decided to extort Rs 2 crore from the Avaada company between December 8 and 9. They allegedly wanted to spread their “terror” in the entire area, the official said quoting the report.

Earlier, on November 29, Karad spoke to Avaada company officials for the extortion of Rs 2 crore, over the phone belonging to Vishnu Chate. On the same day, Sudarshan Ghule reached the company site in Massajog village and asked its officials to fulfil Karad’s demand. Karad met Vishnu Chate, Sudarshan Ghule, Pratik Ghule, Sudhir Sangle and Krushna Andhale at Chate’s office in Kej the same day to decide the way ahead over the extortion issue, the report says. On December 6, Sudarshan Ghule, Pratik Ghule and Sudhir Sangle went to the company site in Massajog village, quarrelled with its officials and asked them to stop the work.

According to the report, sarpanch Deshmukh requested the accused, “Let people get employment, don’t shut the company’s work.”

The report said Sudarshan Ghule allegedly threatened him there saying, “We will see you, we will not spare you.”

Avaada company official Shivaji Thopte met Karad at his office in Parli in the presence of Vishnu Chate on December 8. Karad then asked Thopte for Rs 2 crore or else the company should shut its work in Beed district, it said. After this incident, Vishnu Chate kept calling Santosh Deshmukh and threatened him repeatedly, the report said.

On December 7, Karad allegedly told accused Sudarshan Ghule, “If such hurdles come in our way, then no company will pay us extortion money. Whoever comes in our way should be eliminated. Get going and talk to Vishnu Chate, he will help you”, it said.

After the murder, accused Vishnu Chate destroyed his mobile phone, which was an important piece of evidence in this case, the report said. The report also mentioned that Sudarshan Ghule and the other accused were involved in organised crimes. Eleven cases are registered against the accused involved in the murder case and chargesheets have been filed in eight of them, the report said.

THE POLITICAL PRESSURE

“The mastermind of the Santosh Deshmukh murder case, Walmik Karad, is known to be close to Dhananjay Munde. Police failed to arrest Karad because of Munde’s influence. Instead, Karad surrendered voluntarily. It is alleged that Munde provided protection to Karad to shield him from arrest. As long as Munde remains a minister, justice for Deshmukh’s family cannot be ensured. Ajit Pawar appears hesitant to act, and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis must intervene and exercise his authority to remove Munde from the cabinet,” Jitendra Ahwad, former minister and NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) MLA, had said earlier.

NCP MLA Prakash Solanke recently suggested that Munde be ousted from the Maharashtra ministry to ensure a fair probe in the Beed sarpanch murder case.

BJP MLA Suresh Dhas has also been criticising Munde. “When he was guardian minister of Beed for five years, Munde delegated all powers and authority to his close aide Walmik Karad who has been arrested in an extortion case (in connection with Deshmukh’s murder),” Solanke recently told reporters. He alleged Karad became an “unconstitutional authority” in Beed where lawlessness and extortion became rampant and anti-social elements called the shots.

THE TIMELINE

December 6: The dispute over Massajog windmill escalates
December 9: Sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh is murdered
December 9: His brother Dhananjay files a complaint in Kej
December 9: A case is filed against six people at Kej Police station
December 10: A roadblock is organised in Beed
December 10: Jairam Chate and Mahesh Kedar are arrested
December 11: The crime branch arrests Pratik Ghule
December 11: An extortion case is filed against Walmik Karad
December 13: A bandh call in Beed district
December 13: The murder case is given to the CID
December 14: Kej police inspector Mahajan is sent on on forced leave
December 14: Vishnu Chate is expelled from the NCP
December 18: Vishnu Chate is arrested
December 19: The autopsy makes it clear that Deshmukh was beaten brutally
December 21: Superintendent of Police Avinash Bargal is transferred
December 21: Navneet Kavat is the new Superintendent of Police
December 21: Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar meet tje Deshmukh family
December 24: The extortion case investigation is handed over to the CID
December 28: An all-party march reaches the Collectorate office
December 31: Valmik Karad surrenders to CID
January 3: Dr. Sambhaji Vaibse, Siddharth Sonawane are taken into custody
January 4: Sudhir Sangle, Sudarshan Ghule are arrested from Pune
January 6: Sharad Pawar writes to Fadnavis. Leaders, including BJP MLA Dhas, submit a memorandum to the governor at Raj Bhavan, urging him to take decisive action to uphold the rule of law and public confidence in the justice system.
January 7: The Deshmukh family meets the CM
January 13: Dhananjay Deshmukh, brother of Santosh Deshmukh, climbs onto an overhead water tank and threatens to jump if police don’t book Karad under MCOCA and murder charges
February 25: Residents of Massajog village go on hunger strike over the “dissatisfactory” probe
February 26: The Maharashtra government appoints renowned lawyer Ujjwal Nikam as the special public prosecutor in the case. Deshmukh’s family members had made a similar demand
February 27: The state CID files a more than 1,200-page chargesheet at a court in Beed district in Deshmukh’s murder and two related cases.

THE MONDAY MEET

MARCH 3: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Monday held a crucial meeting with Munde. The meeting, which lasted over 90 minutes, reportedly focused on the political and legal fallout of the case. Party MLAs have been pressing Ajit Pawar to demand Munde’s resignation to ensure an impartial probe.

Fadnavis held a late-night meeting with Deputy CM and NCP chief Ajit Pawar on Monday, along with senior NCP leaders, including Munde, to discuss the issue.

Munde held several portfolios in Fadnavis’s cabinet, including food and civil supplies. As the NCP split, he was one of the key members to switch over to the Ajit Pawar group.

With PTI Inputs