Chhatrapati Sambhainagar: A MCOCA court in Beed on Monday remanded Sudarshan Ghule, an accused in the sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh murder case, to the CID custody till January 31 allowing the police to investigate the digital data and seized mobile phones.

Ghule was produced in the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act court. Earlier, he was remanded in judicial custody on January 18.

Massajog sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh was abducted, tortured, and murdered on December 9 allegedly for attempting to stop an extortion bid on an energy firm in Beed district. Police registered murder and extortion cases.

Seven persons were arrested in the murder case. Walmik Karad, a close aide of Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde, was arrested in the extortion case.

The state government pleader told reporters that the court remanded Ghule to the CID custody till January 31.

“The stringent MCOCA was invoked against Ghule for further investigation. Police want to investigate digital data recovered in the crime. Police also want to check his mobile phone but it’s locked by a password,” the pleader told reporters.

A lawyer representing Ghule said police had already seized his mobile phones.

“The prosecution demanded a ten-day custody for Ghule but the court gave CID five days. The police want to inquire about digital evidence and mobile phone passwords even though phones were seized earlier,” he said.

Kolkata, Jan 27: The parents of the woman doctor of R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, who became a victim of ghastly rape and murder within the hospital premises in August 2024, made it clear on Monday that they are seeking punishment not just for sole convict Sanjay Roy but also for all those who were involved in the crime.

The victim’s father said they are not seeking capital punishment for Sanjay Roy right at this moment. “We want the names of all those behind my daughter’s end to surface. We want the highest punishment for all of them and not just for Sanjay Roy. So we are not seeking capital punishment for Sanjay Roy now. The rest will be explained by our counsel,” claimed the victim’s father

.He said this while speaking to the media persons after the hearing on the admissibility of two parallel petitions by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the West Bengal government seeking the death penalty for Sanjay Roy was concluded at a division bench of the Calcutta High Court.

The division bench of Justice Debangshu Basak and Justice Shabbar Rashidi has kept the judgement in the matter reserved for the time being and only after the judgement in the matter surfaces it will be clear whether both the petitions — one by CBI and the other by the West Bengal government — will be admitted, or any one of the two will be taken.

According to the counsel for the victim’s parents, Shamim Ahmed, the court will only decide on the petitions filed by CBI and the state government. He explained that the victim’s parents have been expressing dissatisfaction over the progress of the investigation in the matter by the CBI for a long time.

“Even a special court in Kolkata recently expressed dissatisfaction over the progress of the investigation. We are still maintaining that the names of the real brains behind the crime are yet to surface and hence we are not seeking the highest punishment for Sanjay Roy now,” he added.

Last week a special court in Kolkata sentenced Sanjay Roy to life imprisonment. However, both the CBI and the state government approached the Calcutta High Court challenging the special court order and seeking the death penalty for the sole convict.

Agartala, Jan 27: Tension prevailed along the India-Bangladesh border in Tripura’s Unakoti district on Monday after a clash between the farmers of two villages on the border of the countries, officials said.

The BSF and police officials separately said the villagers of India and Bangladesh clashed among themselves over the issue of farming in cropland in the border village of Hirachhara in Kailashahar Sub-division on Sunday evening.

According to the officials, two Indian farmers and a Bangladeshi cultivator were injured in the clash before the BSF troops intervened in the conflict. Local people said that Indian farmers — Karim Ali (28) and Zamir Ali (34), both brothers, were severely assaulted with sharp weapons and iron rods by a group of 10-12 Bangladesh nationals. The attack left them critically injured, with Karim sustaining deep wounds on his left hand and back while Zamir suffered head injuries.

Both are currently undergoing medical treatment at the Unakoti District Hospital, where doctors have indicated that Karim’s left-hand finger may need an amputation.

The incident occurred when the two brothers, who cultivate betel leaves and paddy on their land near the zero line of the border, had gone for farming activities on Sunday and found significant damage to their crops. They informed the matter to the Border Security Force (BSF) personnel posted in the area.

However, while returning home in the evening, they were threatened not to go to that area again for cultivation and then attacked by Bangladeshi nationals from the Murui Chhara area of Moulvibazar district (Bangladesh).

The attack occurred within Indian territory raising concerns about the safety of the Indian border villagers. Additional troops of the BSF have been deployed in the areas.

Sunday’s incident occurred within three weeks after Bangladeshi nationals allegedly attacked BSF personnel at the Maguruli border and attempted to snatch their firearms on January 7.

Meanwhile, Tripura Chief met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on January 18 and handed over a letter to him on the construction of a big embankment along the border by Bangladesh.

“The Chief Minister in his letter to the Home Minister, highlighted the potential effect of the Bangladeshi embankment in Unakoti district and possible floods on the Indian side. The Chief Minister has urged the Home Minister to take up the matter with the Bangladesh government to take appropriate steps by the neighbouring country,” an official said.

Seeking the Union government’s intervention, the opposition Congress on Saturday organised a demonstration along the India-Bangladesh border areas in northern Tripura’s Unakoti district to protest against the construction of the embankment by the neighbouring country along the boundary. According to senior Congress leader and former Minister Birajit Sinha, who has been spearheading a stir against the controversial embankment, the Bangladesh government now unilaterally constructing an embankment on its land may endanger the district town of Kailashahar and border villages during monsoon floods.