Threatened for not paying extortion amount: Woman sarpanch in Beed district

Beed, Jan 18 (PTI) A woman village sarpanch in Maharashtra’s Beed district has approached police claiming that she faces threat to life from a former sarpanch and two others for refusing to pay Rs one lakh as extortion amount.

Mangal Mamadge, sarpanch of Mamdapur village in Ambajogai tehsil, also said her son ended his life due to pressure from the former sarpanch and others.

Mamadge said she approached the Beed SP and told him that former sarpanch Vasant Sopan Shinde, Anil Lalasaheb Deshmukh and Dnyanoba Shrimant Deshmukh were demanding Rs one lakh from her and threatening her.

“I had approached the local police earlier but they did not take cognizance of my complaint. It was only after I approached the Beed SP that a case was registered,” Mamadge told reporters.

Her husband Ram Mamadge said that the trio has been threatening his wife saying they won’t allow her to perform her official duties as sarpanch till she pays the amount.

Mamadge’s claim came a month after Santosh Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed district, was brutally murdered on December 9 after he opposed an extortion attempt targeting an energy firm installing windmills in the area. PTI VT