Karad moves court seeking discharge from sarpanch murder case

    Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Apr 10 (PTI) Walmik Karad, a key accused in sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh murder case, has filed an application in a Beed court seeking to be discharged, claiming there is no primary evidence against him, the prosecution said on Thursday.
    The court has sought a response on the application from the state Crime Investigation Department (CID), which is conducting a probe into the case.
    An accused can be discharged after filing of a chargesheet in a case, if the court is of the opinion that the offence against him is not prima facie made out. The accused then need not go through the trial in the case.

    Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Maharashtra's Beed district, was abducted and tortured to death on December 9 last year allegedly for attempting to stop an extortion bid targeting an energy company.

Eight persons, including Karad, have been arrested so far and booked under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
    The CID last month filed a more than 1,200 pages chargesheet at a court in Beed in Deshmukh's murder and two related cases.

    Talking to reporters after a hearing in the court, special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said, "Accused Walmik Karad earlier demanded some papers. We have presented those papers before the court today."
    
    "Secondly, accused Walmik has filed an application to discharge him from the case, claiming there is no primary evidence against him," Nikam said.


    The court has asked for the CID's response, which will be presented before the court on April 24, he added.

    A video of Santosh Deshmukh being beaten up, which according to the CID was shot by the accused, was also presented before the court on Thursday, Nikam said.
    "But we have requested the court that the video should not be made public as it may lead to a law and order issue. The accused will submit their response on this on April 24," he said.

    Nikam also said the prosecution filed an application before the court to seize the movable and immovable properties of Karad, which will come up for hearing later.
    The CID is also investigating about the properties of the other accused in this case, he added.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)