The special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court on Tuesday rejected the discharge application filed by prime accused Walmik Karad and posted the next hearing in the Beed sarpanch murder case, reported the PTI.
Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh`s murder case to August 4.
Walmik Karad`s lawyer stated the rejection of the discharge application is likely to be challenged in the high court.
“Karad also filed a bail application which will be opposed by the state,” Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told reporters, according to the PTI.
He said a draft charge was also filed before the court in Beed in the murder case.
In April, Karad, currently in jail under judicial custody, had filed an application in the court set up under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), seeking discharge in the case, claiming there was no primary evidence against him.
A draft charge in court is a formal document that outlines the specific accusations against an individual in a criminal case.
“The court rejected Karad`s discharge application, following which Vishnu Chate and other accused also filed similar applications. The court will decide on the draft charge and discharge applications of other accused on August 4. It seems a deliberate strategy to waste the court`s time and delay proceedings,” Ujjwal Nikam said, the news agency reported.
Santosh Deshmukh, sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed district in Maharashtra, 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 Walmik Karad, an aide of NCP leader and former state minister Dhananjay Munde, have been arrested and booked under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in the case.
Maharashtra Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had filed a chargesheet of more than 1,200 pages in the sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh murder case and two related cases in a court in Beed district in Maharashtra.
The murder of Santosh Deshmukh had triggered a political firestorm in the state.
The Opposition had demanded Dhananjay Munde`s ouster from the state cabinet after his close aide Walmik Karad was arrested in an extortion case linked to the murder of Santosh Deshmukh.
However, Munde has maintained he has no connection with the Beed sarpanch murder case.
(with PTI inputs)