NCP leader Dhananjay Munde, who is facing criticism for the murder of Sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, said on Tuesday that he has resigned from the post of Cabinet Minister of Maharashtra for hearing the voice of his conscience and medical reasons.
In a post on X, Munde also said that he was deeply saddened by the pictures related to the heinous murder of Santosh Deshmukh, sarpanch of Masajog village in Beed district.
Deshmukh was abducted, tortured and murdered on 9 December last year for attempting to stop the forced recovery by targeting an energy company in the district.
In the charge sheet filed by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) in Deshmukh murder case and two related cases, Munde’s close aide Valmik Karad has been made accused number one.
After Munde’s resignation, the opposition strongly demanded the removal of him from the cabinet.
Fadnavis held a late night meeting with senior NCP leaders including Deputy Chief Minister and NCP chief Ajit Pawar and Munde on Monday to discuss the issue.
The demand for the opposition of Munde’s resignation intensified after the dreaded pictures related to Deshmukh and the details of the court chargesheet, which revealed the cruelty before the murder.
Munde said in his post on X, “It has been firmly demanded from the first day that the accused of the brutal murder of Santosh Deshmukh should be punished the harshest punishment. I was very sad to see the pictures that came out yesterday.”
He said that the investigation of the case has been completed and the charge sheet has been filed in the court.
He said, “Hearing the voice of his conscience and seeing that my health is not good for the last few days, the doctor has advised me to undergo treatment for the next few days. Therefore, due to medical reasons, I have submitted my resignation from the cabinet to the Honorable Chief Minister.”
On February 27, CID filed a charge sheet of more than 1,200 pages in a court in Beed district in the murder of Deshmukh and two related cases.
Three separate cases have been registered at Beed’s Cage Police Station – killing sarpanch, attempting to make money from Avada Company and attacked the security guard of the firm. The police have taken strict action against the accused in these cases under the Maharashtra Organized Crime Control Act (MCOCA).
So far seven people have been arrested and a case has been registered under MCOCA. One accused is still absconding.
