Walmik Karad produced in Beed court; supporters continue protests seeking his release

Mumbai, Jan 15 (PTI) Walmik Karad, an accused in an extortion case linked to the murder of a sarpanch, was produced before a court in Beed on Wednesday, even as his supporters continued their protests for the second day seeking his release.

While some of his supporters climbed a mobile phone tower and a water tank at a village near Parli town in the central Maharashtra district, a bandh was also observed in the area, police said.

Karad, an associate of Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde, was on Tuesday charged under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and sent in 14-day judicial custody.

Subsequently, the police approached the MCOCA court in Beed for his fresh custody.

Accordingly, Karad was produced before the district court in Beed on Wednesday afternoon and the judge is expected to decide the police's application during the hearing.

Heavy security was deployed outside the court, a police official said.

Massajog village sarpanch, Santosh Deshmukh, was abducted, allegedly tortured, and murdered on December 9. Preliminary investigations indicated that Deshmukh had tried to resist an extortion attempt on an energy company operating a windmill project in the area.

Karad has been arrested in a related extortion case.

The protests continued in Beed on Wednesday even though prohibitory orders have been in place in the district till January 28.

At least five supporters of Karad climbed a mobile phone tower at Pangri village in Parli area, demanding that "fake" cases registered against him should be withdrawn, a police official said.

Some of his supporters also climbed a water tank in the village, he said, adding that efforts were on to bring them down.

A group of women also staged a sit-in protest in the village.

As part of a bandh call in Parli given by Karad's supporters, 80 per cent establishments were shut in Shirsala and 30 per cent were closed in Peth Beed area, the official said.

A group of protesters gathered at Wadgaon in Georai and submitted a memorandum to the deputy superintendent of police, demanding that "fake" cases against Karad be withdrawn, he said.

Additional police force has been called to Beed, including a company of the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) and Riot Control Police from Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar and Dharshiv, the official said.

On Tuesday, Karad's supporters vented their anger over the invocation of MCOCA against him by throwing stones at buses, setting tyres on fire and attempting to block roads in Parli town.

One of Karad's supporters also set himself ablaze in Parli town on Tuesday evening to protest his arrest.

His mother also staged a sit-in protest outside a police station in Beed district on Tuesday, demanding her son's release. PTI DC KRK GK