Disturbing visuals of the brutal attack on Massajog sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh surfaced on Monday evening, sparking anger and grief in the Deskhmukh family and residents of the village. Vaibhavi, the slain sarpanch’s daughter, and other family members have now demanded capital punishment for his killers.
The news of Dhananjay Munde’s resignation abated the tension in Beed district to a certain extent. However, the slain sarpanch’s brother, Dhananjay Deshmukh, said, “The chief minister took two-and-a-half months to realise that he (Dhananjay Munde) could be an obstacle to the process of justice and, therefore, accepted his resignation today (Tuesday). We had realised this fact the day the incident came to light.”
He said, “Even if the entire cabinet resigns, it will do no good to us or bring back my brother. He was murdered in the most brutal and inhuman manner. No one can even imagine what my brother had to go through in his last moments.”
Massajog residents and members of different Maratha outfits had called for a bandh in the early hours of Tuesday, which received a considerable response during the day. Things returned to normalcy by evening.
Screenshots of a video, allegedly shot by the accused in the Santosh Deshmukh murder case, are now part of the chargesheet filed by the special investigation team of the CID. The screenshots show the accused laughing while assaulting the sarpanch. Some of the images also show the attackers stomping on Santosh’s body and urinating on his face.
Taking cognizance of the tension and anger, Beed superintendent of police Navneet Kanwat issued a statement, calling the photos “heart wrenching”. He also appealed to people to abstain from reacting to the images that are now part of the chargesheet and judicial process.
Meanwhile, Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange, who was admitted to a Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar-based private hospital on Monday, visited Massajog at 4am and met the Deshmukh family.
Jarange demanded Dhananjay Munde be named a co-accused in the case. MP Bajrang Sonawane also visited the village and met the family.
Dhananjay Deshmukh said, “Since the incident, only the Beed superintendent of police has been transferred. What about the other police personnel who have remained loyal to these criminals? They are still in the force and nothing has happened to them,” he said. —Mohammed Akhef