Maharashtra minister’s aide gets 14-day judicial custody under MCOCA

Kej (Maharashtra), Jan 14 (PTI) A court in Maharashtra on Tuesday sentenced NCP minister Dhananjay Munde's close aide Walmik Karad, wanted in a Rs 2 crore extortion case linked to the murder of a sarpanch in Beed district, to 14-day judicial custody.

Karad had surrendered before the police in Pune on December 31 and was remanded to 14-day police custody. He was brought from Beed and produced before the court in Kej in the district on Tuesday.

Karad has been booked under the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA), an official said.

Dhananjay Deshmukh, the brother of slain sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, staged a protest in Massajog village in Beed on Monday and demanded that Karad be booked under MCOCA.

Before turning himself in, Karad posted a video on social media, claiming that he was being linked to the murder for reasons of political vendetta.

Santosh Deshmukh, sarpanch of Massajog village in Kej tehsil of Beed district, was abducted and brutally killed on December 9, allegedly for opposing an extortion bid by some persons who had demanded money from a windmill company. PTI