MUMBAI: The NCP-SP and Congress on Thursday took a swipe at Beed police asking whether five new beds have been ordered for the comfort of Walmik Karad, a close associate of NCP minister Dhananjay Munde from Beed, who was wanted in an extortion case linked to the murder of Santosh Deshmukh, who surrendered before the CID in Pune on Tuesday.
An extortion case has been registered against Karad who has been remanded in police custody for 14 days by Kej court in Beed district.
The police administration subsequently clarified that they were cots for the staff.
NCP-SP legislator Rohit Pawar in his post on X said, “There are reports of five new beds being ordered at the police station. Although the administration has clarified that new cots have been ordered for the staff, there are many questions like, how come the beds were suddenly ordered today? If new beds have been ordered for the staff, the same level of promptness should be shown for the staff in all police stations across the state.
“In addition, consideration should be given to whether mattresses, pillows, fans, and ACs can also be installed.”
On the other hand, senior Congress legislator Vijay Wadettiwar took a dig at the MahaYuti government asking whether the five cots ordered for the Beed police station were for Walmik Karad being covered under the ‘Ladli Aaropi Yojana (beloved accused scheme)’.
“There are not so many coincidences in the movies also as are witnessed in the police administration’s move to order five beds when Walmik Karad has been sentenced to 14 days’ police custody.
“This is the beginning of pampering the accused. Gradually he will get everything like TV, AC, and food from a five-star hotel, ” remarked Wadettiwar.
“Does this government want to take fair action against Walmik Karad? If it wants to, then the investigation should be conducted outside Beed district. Will it investigate the person who has kept the police in its grip till now or will it be a service? The government should either stop pretending to take action against Karad and if it wants to take action, it should be done seriously, ” said Wadettiwar.
“Whether it is the murder of Santosh Deshmukh or a case under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), no case has been registered in Karad yet, which raises questions about this investigation, ” he commented.
The state government on Wednesday formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by IPS officer Basavaraj Teli to investigate the brutal killing of Massajog sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh from Beed district which took place in December last year.
Teli is the head of the Economic Offences Wing of the CID. All the officers in the SIT are from Beed district.
The current investigating officer DYSP Anil Gujar will also be in the probe team.
Apart from Gujar, the other members of the SIT include Vijay Singh Shivlal Jonwal, assistant police inspector, Local Crime Branch, Beed, Mahesh Vighne, sub inspector, Local Crime Branch, Beed, Anand Shankar Shinde, sub inspector Kej, Tulshiram Jagtap, assistant sub inspector, Manoj Rajendra Wagh, police constable, Chandrakant S Kalkute, police naik, Balasaheb Devidas Akhabare, police naik and Santosh Bhagwanrao Gitte, police constable.
The Santosh Deshmukh murder case is currently being investigated by the CID and so far more than 150 people have been questioned in this case.
The investigation is being conducted in connection with the links between the extortion of Rs 2 crore and the CID team is checking all the call records, CDRs on a war footing.