Pune/Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The state CID, which is probing the Dec 9 abduction-cum-murder of Massajog sarpanch Santosh Panditrao Deshmukh and two related cases in Kej taluka of Beed district, has seized two smartphones of suspects, besides an SUV used in the alleged crime.
Apart from murder, the other two cases are related to a Rs 2 crore extortion bid on a windmill firm by some villagers, in which Deshmukh tried to intervene to prevent them from extorting money, and an assault on a security guard of the firm. Parli municipal council’s former chief Valmik Karad, a close aide of NCP minister Dhananjay Munde, is named with two others in the extortion case registered on Dec 11 by the Kej police.
A CID officer privy to investigation told TOI that forensic experts have collected fingerprints and other evidence from the seized SUV. “Based on data retrieved from the two seized phones, we have questioned several people, including representatives of a political party, over the last 24 hours. We will continue to question some more people,” he said, adding the seized smartphones and SUV were being sent to a forensic lab for an audit and examination.
Additional director general of police (CID) Prashant Burde, who returned to Pune from Beed on Monday afternoon, told TOI, “Our investigations are going in the right direction, but I cannot comment for now.”
In a related development, the slain sarpanch’s brother, Dhananjay, on Monday filed a criminal writ petition with the Aurangabad bench of Bombay high court seeking, among other things, action against police officers for delaying registration of FIR and application of MCOCA against the accused in the extortion case. Dhananjay has named secretaries to the state home and law and judiciary departments, the state DGP, Beed’s SP and the police officer in-charge of the Kej police station in Beed district as respondents.
Pune/Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The state CID, which is probing the Dec 9 abduction-cum-murder of Massajog sarpanch Santosh Panditrao Deshmukh and two related cases in Kej taluka of Beed district, has seized two smartphones of suspects, besides an SUV used in the alleged crime.
Apart from murder, the other two cases are related to a Rs 2 crore extortion bid on a windmill firm by some villagers, in which Deshmukh tried to intervene to prevent them from extorting money, and an assault on a security guard of the firm. Parli municipal council’s former chief Valmik Karad, a close aide of NCP minister Dhananjay Munde, is named with two others in the extortion case registered on Dec 11 by the Kej police.
A CID officer privy to investigation told TOI that forensic experts have collected fingerprints and other evidence from the seized SUV. “Based on data retrieved from the two seized phones, we have questioned several people, including representatives of a political party, over the last 24 hours. We will continue to question some more people,” he said, adding the seized smartphones and SUV were being sent to a forensic lab for an audit and examination.
Additional director general of police (CID) Prashant Burde, who returned to Pune from Beed on Monday afternoon, told TOI, “Our investigations are going in the right direction, but I cannot comment for now.”
In a related development, the slain sarpanch’s brother, Dhananjay, on Monday filed a criminal writ petition with the Aurangabad bench of Bombay high court seeking, among other things, action against police officers for delaying registration of FIR and application of MCOCA against the accused in the extortion case. Dhananjay has named secretaries to the state home and law and judiciary departments, the state DGP, Beed’s SP and the police officer in-charge of the Kej police station in Beed district as respondents.