Munde resigned as minister on moral grounds: Bhujbal

Mumbai, Mar 4 (PTI) NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal on Tuesday said his party colleague Dhananjay Munde resigned as Maharashtra minister on moral grounds and it is not known if he is involved in the murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh.

Munde on Tuesday resigned from the state cabinet, days after his close aide Walmik Karad was named as the mastermind in the Beed sarpanch murder case.

The resignation followed a vociferous demand by the opposition for NCP MLA Munde’s removal from the cabinet.

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

The opposition’s demand for Munde’s resignation intensified after gory photos and court chargesheet details related to the killing of Massajog village sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh surfaced, revealing the brutalities committed before the murder.

Talking to reporters, Bhujbal said, “It is not known if he (Munde) is involved in the ghastly crime of the murder of Santosh Deshmukh. Ajit Pawar as party chief will take a call on the NCP’s stand over the issue.”

Meanwhile, while opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi members staged a protest in the Vidhan Bhavan premises, criticising the government while claiming the law and order situation in the state has deteriorated.

Deshmukh, 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 state Crime Investigation Department (CID) on February 27 filed a more than 1,200-page chargesheet at a court in Beed district in Deshmukh’s murder and two related cases.

Three separate cases – murder of sarpanch, bid to extort money from Avaada company and assault on security guard of the firm – have been registered at Kej police station in Beed. The police have invoked the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against the accused in the cases.

Seven persons have been arrested so far and booked under the MCOCA. One of the accused is still at large.