Beed sarpanch murder: Two absconding accused arrested in Pune; six nabbed so far

Mumbai, Jan 4 (PTI) The police have arrested two absconding accused involved in the murder of Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh from Pune, an official said on Saturday.

The accused, Sudarshan Chandrabhan Ghule (26) and Sudhir Sangle (23), were handed over to the special investigation team of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which is probing the case, the official said.

A police official had earlier said the duo was arrested from Dhule. However, it was later clarified by the Beed police that the arrests were made in Pune.

With this, the police have arrested six out of seven persons involved in the murder.

The police had earlier arrested Jairam Manik Change (21), Mahesh Sakharam Kedar (21), Prateek Ghule (24) and Vishnu Chate (45), while another accused is still at large.

Santosh Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village, was abducted, tortured and murdered on December 9 for attempting to stop an extortion bid on an energy firm helming a windmill project in the region. Walmik Karad, an aide of Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde, has been arrested in the extortion case.

Several police teams were deployed to arrest three accused on the run, and an SIT was constituted to nab them.

The probe team interrogated three persons to trace the absconding men, appointed informants and used technical skills to nab the two accused, the official added.

Meanwhile, Dhananjay Deshmukh, brother of the murdered sarpanch, on Saturday said the investigation in the case must be transparent, and the names of people who helped the accused must also be disclosed.

Talking to reporters, Dhananjay Deshmukh said, “One accused is still absconding, and there are people who have helped these men before and after the murder. It is now clear that this is an organised crime. Once the last accused in this case is apprehended, everything will be clear. The number of people involved in the case will also go up.”

He further pointed out that the accused were nabbed from Pune and questioned who was helping them.

“Till now, everyone (accused) has been nabbed in Pune. This means they were all in one place. Someone kept them safe there, and the names of those who helped these accused must be disclosed,” he said.