Beed Police Capture Fugitive NCP Leader Vishnu Chate Linked to Sarpanch Murder
Click to start listening
Beed (Maharashtra), Dec 18 (NationPress) Amid a political uproar, the Beed Police have apprehended a ruling Mahayuti ally, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) member Vishnu Chate in connection with the December 9 murder of Sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh in Kej village of Massejeog taluka, officials stated here on Wednesday.
Additional Superintendent of Police, Beed, Sachin S. Pandkar confirmed the news and mentioned that Chate was captured on the Beed-Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar highway while trying to escape the district.
After being on the run for almost 10 days, Chate's arrest brings the total number of arrested suspects to four, with three more still at large. The police have established multiple teams to pursue them.
Previously implicated in a Rs two crore extortion case involving a windmill company, Chate is now also accused of allegedly orchestrating the murder of the Sarpanch, which has escalated into a significant political scandal.
According to the police investigation, there appear to be connections between the extortion case concerning the windmill company and the murder of the Sarpanch, an official indicated.
In the earlier (extortion) case filed by the local windmill company, one of the accused was Walmiki Karad – reportedly close to NCP Minister Dhananjay Munde – along with Chate and other accomplices.
The Sarpanch, who was allegedly murdered for obstructing the extortion attempt on the windmill company, was initially kidnapped, brutally tortured, and eventually killed in broad daylight near the windmill company's office on December 9 afternoon.
The murder of the village head has triggered a significant caste-political uproar since the victim was a Maratha while the primary suspect (Chate) belongs to the OBC (Vanjari) community – both groups are currently in conflict over the ongoing reservation agitation.
In the face of widespread protests, demonstrations, and walkouts by the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition comprising Congress, NCP, and Shiv Sena (UBT), the state government has assigned the murder investigation to a Special Investigation Team.
Ambadas Danve, Leader of Opposition in the Council from SS (UBT), criticized the Mahayuti government for the "total collapse" of law and order in Beed and Parbhani, particularly following the desecration of Dr B. R. Ambedkar's statue on December 10 and other incidents.
He claimed that Munde's close associates Walmiki and Chate bear direct responsibility for both the extortion case and the murder of the Sarpanch, with NCP (SP) General Secretary Jitendra Awhad, Congress state President Nana F. Patole, and other senior leaders also criticizing the Mahayuti on this matter.
