Beed sarpanch murder: proof points to Walmik Karad's crime syndicate links, court said while rejecting MCOCA discharge plea
Karad – a close aide of former NCP minister Dhananjay Munde – and others have been booked under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) for the murder of Santosh Deshmukh on December 9, 2024.
'Validity of prior permission or sanction shall not be doubted at this juncture. Thus the statements of witnesses, material, technical, digital, scientific and forensic evidence prima facie reveal that the offence is committed by the applicant and co-accused persons,' the detailed order by special judge V H Patwadkar said.
The prosecution said that between October and December 2024, the accused, including Karad, conspired and demanded ransom from a company to run their business in the district. When Massajog sarpanch Deshmukh intervened, a plan was made to abduct and murder him. Deshmukh was subsequently killed. The prosecution has claimed that the co-accused videographed the act and also made a video call to Karad.
The prosecution cited 20 previous crimes filed against Karad, including that of unlawful assembly and attempt to murder, and said he was also convicted in one case. It added that the other accused were following the instructions of Karad, who is a member of the crime syndicate.
Karad had filed the discharge plea stating he was falsely implicated for political reasons, and there was no crime syndicate as claimed by the police. He also questioned the validity of the sanction under the MCOCA given in February, claiming that due procedure was not followed while invoking the Act.
He said no role was specified when it came to his involvement in the crime. Karad said the police deliberately hid the fact that among the cases cited, he was cleared in almost 15 of them, including the case in which he was convicted, and that the Bombay High Court had acquitted him in the appeal stage.
Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam submitted that the sanction for MCOCA was taken as per procedure and if it is dropped, the crime syndicate will continue its work, resulting in a grave law and order problem.
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