NCP spokesperson Suraj Chavan and party MLC Amol Mitkari on Sunday took objection to BJP MLA Suresh Dhas targeting Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar over the murder of a sarpanch in Beed district.
In an X post, Chavan asked if Dhas does not trust the state home department that it will conduct a fair probe into the murder.
Mitkari asked if Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, who holds charge of the home department, will rein in his party MLA.
Chavan said if anyone from the NCP is found involved in the murder case, Pawar will not hesitate to take action against him.
Santosh Deshmukh, sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed district, 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.
Walmik Karad, an associate of Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Dhananjay Munde, has been arrested in the extortion case.
Police have so far arrested seven persons in connection with the murder case.
BJP leader Dhas and NCP MLA Prakash Solanke, both hailing from Beed, as well as the opposition have been demanding that Munde be dropped from the state council of ministers for a fair rpt fair probe into the murder case.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Crime Investigation Department (CID) is conducting a probe into the case.
During a protest in Parbhani on Saturday, Dhas, in a veiled reference to Munde's induction into the cabinet, taunted NCP head Pawar and said, "Ajit dada kya hua tera vada...kaiko isko andar liya (Ajit dada what happened to your promise, why you inducted him)?" Reacting to the BJP leader's remarks, Chavan, "If anyone from the NCP is found involved in the murder case, Ajit Pawar will not spare him." "I want to request Devendra Fadnavis to ask Dhas not to vitiate the cordial atmosphere of the Mahayuti alliance. If Ajit Pawar is defamed, we will respond appropriately," Chavan added.
Mitkari also took a dim view of Dhas targeting Pawar.
"Will Devendra Fadnavis rein in his MLA for questioning Ajit dada or allow the wild bull to run amok?" Mitkari quipped in a post on X.
Dhas has been targeting Dhananjay Munde, amid a political blame-game over the Deshmukh murder case.
On Saturday, Dhas alleged that two men arrested from Pune in the murder case are just "pawns" while the "key accused" are roaming free.
The murder case 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.
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