A special court in Maharashtra's Beed district has determined that Walmik Karad, the prime accused in the murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, appears to be a member of an organised crime syndicate involved in illegal activities, reported news agency PTI.

MCOCA judge, V H Patwadkar, rejected Karad's discharge application in the case last week, stating that he and his co-accused had shot a video of the attack on the victim "to create terror of their gang/syndicate".

Considering the evidence on record, the court stated that, prima facie, Karad appears to be a member of an organised crime syndicate and is involved in "continuing unlawful activities".