We expect killers in sarpanch murder case get capital punishment, says brother of deceased

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Mar 11 (PTI) Dhananjay Deshmukh, the brother of murdered sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, on Tuesday said his family expects that the killers are given capital punishment.

He also said that one more first information report (FIR) is likely to be registered in connection with the murder.

Santosh Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Maharashtra's Beed district, was kidnapped and tortured to death in December last year, allegedly for thwarting attempts to extort money from a windmill company.

Police have so far arrested eight persons in connection with the case, while another accused, Krishna Andhale, was still absconding.

NCP leader Dhananjay Munde, who hails from Beed district, resigned as Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Minister on March 4 after a Criminal Investigation Department (CID) chargesheet in the sarpanch murder case named his key aide Walmik Karad as the "mastermind" of the brutal killing.

Videos and photographs attached with the chargesheet, showing brutalities inflicted upon Deshmukh before his death on December 9 last year, surfaced on social media, sparking state-wide outrage.

Responding to a query whether he was satisfied with the investigation into the murder case, Dhananjay Deshmukh said, "The court's judgement in the Santosh Deshmukh murder case will decide whether we are satisfied or not. We expect that the accused will get capital punishment...Then we will talk about our satisfaction over the investigation..." "We will come to know about the procedure of the chargesheet preparation by tomorrow (Wednesday). But I have learnt that another FIR will be registered in the murder case, and we will discuss this with the investigation agencies," he said.

The names of those persons who tried to hide information (related to the crime and criminals), could be included in this FIR, he said. PTI AW NP