Walmik Karad—an associate of NCP (Ajit Pawar) minister Dhananjay Munde—who was arrested in the extortion case that is believed to have led to Massajog sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh’s murder on December 9, 2024, has been booked under a stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) by the Special Investigation Team. The court allowed Karad to be taken into custody in the murder case on Tuesday.

Earlier, the police asked for police custody to be extended in the extortion case, but the court dismissed the pleas. The police wanted to verify Karad’s investment and assets in the country and abroad. But, later in the day, the Kaij MCOCA court allowed Karad’s custody when the police told it that his name had been added to the list of the eight MCOCA accused booked earlier.