CM meets Beed murder victim’s widow, orders SIT to be set up

Maharashtra CM Fadnavis announced an SIT to investigate Mahadev Munde's murder, responding to claims of political interference in the case.

MUMBAI: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday announced the setting up of a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the murder of Mahadev Munde after meeting his widow Dnyaneshwari Munde in Parli. The CM entrusted the investigation to IPS officer Pankaj Kumawat, as demanded by locals, and two other officers who had handled the case previously. He also assured Dnyaneshwari that the accused who she had named would be arrested at the earliest.

CM meets Beed murder victim’s widow, orders SIT to be set up

Munde, a real estate contractor, was brutally killed by unidentified people who threw his body by the roadside in October 2023. Dnyaneshwari and other family members have alleged the involvement of Walmik Karad, currently arrested under MCOCA in sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh’s murder case. Karad is a close aide of former minister and NCP leader Dhananjay Munde, and Dnyaneshwari claimed on Thursday that Walmik had planned the murder while sitting in Dhananjay’s bungalow in Parli.

The aggrieved widow submitted the post-mortem photos, the CDR details of 150 calls they had received from 17 numbers, and names of the accused to Fadnavis. “Back when the case was being investigated, they were about to be arrested but political intervention stopped the police in their tracks,” said Beed’s BJP MLA Suresh Dhas. “The two investigating officers were immediately transferred to other districts.”

The two are now part of the SIT headed by Pankaj Kumawat, who is currently serving as the additional SP in Amravati. Beed locals had specifically asked for him on account of the trust they had in him when he was additional SP in Kaij. Dhas said that Fadnavis had asked DGP Rashmi Shukla to issue the order to constitute the SIT immediately.

After the meeting, Dnyaneshwari said she was content with the outcome. “The CM was moved after seeing the photographs and hearing my story,” she said. “Of the 17 numbers from which we received calls, nine people were spotted at the crime scene. The CDRs of Walmik Karad and his political patron also need to be checked. The CM has assured us that every angle will be investigated.”

Dhas said apart from the Munde murder, many others needed to be reinvestigated. “Three people were murdered from October 19-21, 2023, and Walmik Karad was behind them all,” he said. “A fake accused in one of the cases is languishing in jail. We hope the government will reinvestigate them all and give justice to the people of Beed.”