Beed, Jan 14 (IANS): Amid ongoing protest over the murder of Massajog sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh from Beed district, the Kej Sessions Court on Tuesday ordered to book Walmik Karad, who is a close associate of Nationalist Congress Party Minister Dhananjay Munde, under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).

Karad with a Rs 2 crore extortion case linked to the murder of a sarpanch in Beed district is already under arrest.

Karad had surrendered to the police in Pune on December 31.

The court has granted Karad a 14-day judicial custody and not the CID custody.

The CID is currently investigating Santosh Deshmukh's murder and extortion case involving Karad, who is allegedly being termed by the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) as the mastermind behind the killing of the Massajog sarpanch.

Already eight accused linked to the murder of Santosh Deshmukh were booked under MCOCA.

Thereafter, the Opposition MVA and the family members of Santosh Deshmukh slammed the state government for shielding Karad and stepped up their demands to book him under MCOCA.

The Opposition has alleged that Karad is the mastermind behind the murder of Santosh Deshmukh and he is the one who hatched the plot to murder Deshmukh.

The police have also launched an investigation into the matter.

In a similar development, Karad's mother and his supporters staged a protest against the arrest of Walmik Karad demanding he should be released.

The police have imposed prohibitory orders to avoid any untoward incident and have increased security.

Meanwhile, NCP President and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the two Deputy Chief Ministers, including Eknath Shinde, have since taken a firm stand that no one will be spared in the murder of Santosh Deshmukh.

"All those involved in the brutal killing will be punished severely," he added.

Ajit Pawar said that the government has appointed an able and efficient officer as the Beed Superintendent of Police who will make all efforts to maintain the law and order situation there.

Reacting to a query on Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi's demand for the resignation of Minister Dhananjay Munde allegedly in connection with Santosh Deshmukh's murder and implementation of crop insurance scheme for farmers, Ajit Pawar said that let the investigations complete.