Santosh Deshmukh Murder Case: Vijay Wadettiwar Claims 'Smaller Fish Could Be Killed to Protect Big Fish'

Following the arrest of an associate of a Maharashtra minister in an extortion case connected to the murder of a sarpanch in Beed, Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar claimed that "smaller fish" could be killed in an encounter to save the "big fish".

Wadettiwar, however, refrained from elaborating on his comments. Speaking to reporters in Nagpur on Thursday, the opposition leader also criticized the Beed administration, questioning whether beds were being taken to a police station for Walmik Karad, a close associate of Maharashtra NCP minister Dhananjay Munde.

To a query on Karad, Wadettiwar, without naming anyone, claimed, "According to reliable sources, smaller fish could be killed in an encounter to save the big fish." The opposition party leader also sought to know for whom beds were being taken to a police station in Beed. "Were those for Walmik Karad, who is in police custody?" he asked and demanded an inquiry into it.

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Karad, who is wanted in an extortion case connected to the brutal murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh in Beed district, surrendered to the police in Pune on Tuesday. He was subsequently taken to a court in Kej, Beed district, where he was remanded in 14-day police custody the same day.

Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed, was abducted and brutally murdered on December 9. It is alleged that the killing occurred after he opposed an extortion attempt by individuals who had demanded money from a windmill company.