Beed murder: Jarange booked for defamatory remarks against Dhananjay Munde

Beed police have booked Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange for allegedly making defamatory remarks against Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde over the murder of a sarpanch in the district, an official said.

Following a complaint by one Tukaram Aghav, the Parli police here on Sunday registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Jarange over the remarks and on charges of creating a divide in the society.

During a rally in Parbhani on Saturday, Jarange targeted NCP minister Munde over the murder of Santosh Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed district.

The activist had said the Maratha community wouldn't allow Munde to roam on the streets if Dehmukh's family was harmed.

His remarks upset Munde's supporters, who demanded that a case be registered against Jarange. They had also protested against the activist outside the Shivajinagar police station in Beed.

Deshmukh was abducted, tortured and murdered on December 9, apparently because he tried to thwart an attempt to extort money from an energy firm operating a windmill project.

Police have so far arrested seven persons in the murder case.

Walmik Karad, an associate of Munde, has been arrested in the extortion case.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Crime Investigation Department (CID) is conducting a probe into the cases.

The murder has acquired a caste conflict angle as Deshmukh was a Maratha, while most of the accused are Vanjari, a dominant community in the Beed region.