Sarpanch murder case: HC denies bail to prime accused Walmik Karad

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Dec 17 (PTI) The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court on Wednesday rejected the bail application of Walmik Karad, the prime accused in sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh murder case.

Karad is currently lodged in a jail in Beed district.

After hearing arguments from both sides, Justice Sushil Ghodeswar pronounced the order dismissing the application.

Karad's lawyer Dhananjay Patil said the HC rejected his bail application, but its detailed order is yet to come.

Appearing for Karad, senior counsel Shirish Gupte argued that the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) had been invoked incorrectly, and claimed that Karad had no connection with the murder.

He contended that the accused was several hundreds kilometres away on the day of the incident, and had been falsely implicated in the case.

Opposing the plea, public prosecutor Amarjitsingh Girase presented a detailed sequence of events before the court.

He drew the attention to crucial evidence, including the statements of witnesses, call detail records (CDRs), CCTV footage, audio recordings, and forensic science laboratory reports.

After considering the submissions and material on record, the court rejected the bail plea.

Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed district, was abducted and tortured to death on December 9 last year allegedly for attempting to stop an extortion bid targeting an energy company.

Eight persons, including Karad, have been arrested so far and booked under the stringent MCOCA.

Expressing satisfaction over the HC rejecting Karad's bail plea, Dhananjay Deshmukh, the brother of the late sarpanch, said, "Today we can say that the process to get justice in this case has begun." He also said there was a possibility of NCP leader Dhananjay Munde's reinduction into the state cabinet, and opposed the idea.

Munde had resigned as a minister in March this year after Karad, his close aide, was arrested following his surrender. PTI COR AW NP