Wadettiwar attacks BJP over Mugantiwar's Beed reference for Chandrapur's crime rate

Mumbai, Feb 3 (PTI) Maharashtra Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar on Monday cornered the BJP on the "grim situation" in Beed after senior ruling party leader Sudhir Mungantiwar cited the district as an example while talking about Chandrapur's "rising crime rate".

Beed has hit national headlines after Santosh Deshmukh, sarpanch of Massajog there, was abducted, tortured and murdered on December 9. Police have registered a murder case and an extortion case linked to the killing. Among those arrested in the extortion case is Walmik Karad, a close aide of NCP minister Dhananjay Munde.

The opposition has been alleging law and order has completely broken down in Beed district and that criminals were ruling the roost with political patronage. The Deshmukh murder has also brought to the fore caste tensions since the sarpanch was a Maratha and most of those arrested are from the Vanjari community.

"During the district planning and development council (DPDC) meeting for Chandrapur today, Mungantiwar said the district should not become like Beed. It reflects the grim situation in Beed, which now even BJP leaders are acknowledging. The BJP knows how dire the situation is in Beed," said Wadettiwar, a former leader of opposition in the assembly.

Mungantiwar brushed aside Wadettiwar's claims and said he had made the remark only in the context of the Santosh Deshmukh murder.

"I was expressing concern over the increasing crime rate in Chandrapur. I only spoke about a particular incident. Crime is gradually increasing in Chandrapur, which is worrying.This district is an industrial hub, but we are witnessing rise in coal and sand mafias. The police superintendent's report highlighted this issue, and I have instructed authorities to take necessary action," he told reporters.

Defending his reference to Beed, Mungantiwar said he was only talking about a particular incident (sarpanch murder) and had not made a general statement.

"When we talk about Bihar, do we mean to say such (crime and law and order) incidents happen in every village there? No. Similarly, it is not as if entire Beed district is crime-ridden. There was no such implication in my remark. What Wadettiwar claims does not concern me. I know exactly in what context I spoke," Mungantiwar asserted.

Deshmukh was killed for trying to stop an extortion bid against an energy firm operating a windmill project in Beed.

The opposition has been demanding that Munde be sacked from the Fadnavis cabinet, though the NCP minister has claimed he has nothing to do with the case. PTI ND BNM