Daijiworld Media Network - Beed
Beed, Oct 3: A video purportedly showing Sugriv Karad, an associate of Valmik Karad, threatening a man at the Umri toll plaza in Beed has gone viral on social media, triggering a fresh controversy in the district.
The video reportedly shows Sugriv Karad threatening a young man from Massajog after an argument at the toll plaza. According to reports, the dispute allegedly began after Karad did not pay the toll. In the video, he is purportedly heard threatening to “burn everything within an hour” along with the people involved.
The video is reportedly not recent and is said to have been recorded several days ago. The identity of the people involved and the circumstances surrounding the incident are subject to verification.
The development comes amid the ongoing controversy surrounding the death of Vilas Ghule in Kej taluka. Ghule was allegedly killed after intervening in a dispute between two groups. His name has subsequently become part of a wider political dispute, with allegations involving the son of Beed MP Bajrang Sonawane.
Saurabh Sonawane has denied having any connection with the Vilas Ghule murder case. More recently, a CID chargesheet filed in the case reportedly did not name him as an accused after the investigation.
Bajrang Sonawane has also alleged that an attempt was made to implicate his son in the Ghule case. On October 1, he played an alleged audio recording during a press conference and claimed that Valmik Karad and Sugriv Karad had discussed a plan to implicate Saurabh Sonawane. Sonawane has sought an investigation into the recording. The authenticity and contents of the alleged recording have not been independently established.
Sonawane has separately alleged that Valmik Karad was able to use a phone while lodged in Beed jail. Jail authorities have rejected the allegation, saying the prison has CCTV surveillance and that the communication facility available to inmates had been examined previously. The authorities also said a technical issue that could allow conferencing through the facility had subsequently been addressed.
The latest viral video has once again brought the activities of Karad's associates under scrutiny. The Umri toll plaza has also figured in the investigation into the December 2024 abduction and murder of Massajog sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh.
The allegations surrounding the viral video and the wider Vilas Ghule case remain subject to investigation.