A special court in Beed district, Maharashtra, on Wednesday remanded Walmik Karad, an accused in an extortion case connected to the murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, to 14 days of judicial custody.
Karad, who had been in CID custody, appeared before the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court via video link.
The court ordered Karad, an associate of Maharashtra Minister Dhananjay Munde, to remain in judicial custody. Karad had been booked under the stringent MCOCA on January 14. Following his booking, the police requested his custody from the special MCOCA court.
Previously, on January 15, the court had remanded Karad to the custody of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the CID, which is investigating the case, until January 22.
The case revolves around the murder of Santosh Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed, who was abducted, tortured, and killed on December 9. Investigations revealed that Deshmukh had resisted an extortion attempt targeting a windmill project operated by an energy company in the area.
Karad was arrested in connection with the extortion case after he surrendered to the police in Pune on December 31.
