MUMBAI: Fourteen months after Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh was brutally killed when he tried to foil an extortion attempt by a local gang, enjoying political patronage, against a wind power company, complaints of theft, extortion, vandalism from wind power companies from the district and neighbouring Dharashiv continues.
In the last six months, the Dharashiv police have registered over 20 FIRs, with a steady stream of complaints continuing.
Sample this: A vehicle containing equipment worth lakhs was stopped by a gang near Jawalaka, Vashi taluka, Dharashiv, in November last year. The FIR lodged at Vashi police station mentions that a ransom of ₹9 lakh was demanded by three accused to let the vehicle carrying material for Serentica Renewable Pvt Ltd continue its journey. A similar case was registered by Tata Power against the three who made an extortion bid of ₹4.5 lakh for the vehicle carrying material to proceed to its destination. Vashi police registered the case in December. Of the 20 such FIRs registered in various tehsils of the district, some are from ReNew Energy, TP Vardhaman Surya, among others.
Two months ago, Pratap Sarnaik, guardian minister of Dharashiv, who also holds the state transport portfolio, held a meeting with the delegation representing the companies, in the face of mounting complaints. The district has one of the highest number of wind power companies in the state. At the meeting, the delegation reportedly told the minister that in the face of extortion bids and thefts, it would be difficult for them to continue their operations.
After the meeting, the collector set up a committee that took periodic review to address the issue. It resulted in reduction in the cases, but the complaints have not stopped completely. As a result of this, a delegation met Dharashiv collector Kirtikumar Pujar complaining about extortion bids by local gangs and absence of police action. The Dharashiv collectorate has convened a meeting on February 10 with the police department to chalk out the future course of action.
“These gangs which are operated by the local mafia halt vehicles that carry materials such as blades of wind mills that are very expensive and demand money. Wind power generation needs heavy equipment that is expensive. The gangs sometimes break into the store yards of the power plants and steal the material or damage equipment such as transformers, generators or gearboxes for ransoms. The security personnel and the employees opposing them are also attacked brutally,” said an officer of one of the power companies based in Dharashiv.
Three districts of Marathwada — Beed, Dharashiv and Latur — are preferred destinations of wind power generating companies given the favourable weather conditions. Of the wind power projects with the installed capacity of 4284 MW across the state, those either proposed or under operation with the capacity of 2150 MW are in the districts. Over 22 wind power generation companies have invested more than ₹12,000 crore in these districts, said officials from the state government’s conventional power generation department.
Santosh Deshmukh, sarpanch of Massajog village, in Beed, was murdered on December 9, 2024, after he tried to foil the extortion attempt on Mumbai-based Avaada Energy Private Limited by a gang linked Walmik Karad, an aide of NCP MLA Dhananjay Munde. Karad and other accused were arrested under MCOCA and have been behind bars for over a year.
Deshmukh’s murder created an uproar in the state, and power generation companies demanded government’s intervention, which compelled chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to promise to weed out lawlessness in the district and create an industry-friendly environment.
“We received complaints of theft, extortion by the mafia during our meeting two months ago. I had asked the collector and superintendent of police to take steps against these complaints. Some gangs from Pune were also active as middlemen between companies and farmers dealing in land lease. FIRs were lodged in these cases. The complaints may have reduced now. I will review once the code of conduct for district council elections are over,” said Sarnaik.
Vidyacharan Kadavkar, resident deputy collector of Dharashiv said, “Complaints by some companies have dwindled following our continuous efforts. We have convened a meeting of various departments and the police on February 10 following complaints by companies that FIRs were not registered.”
Ashti, Patoda and Kaij tehsils in Beed, the hub of wind power projects, continue to get the complaints, although at a reduced scale. After a case of the extortion was reported recently, the collector and police department acted swiftly on it.
Vivek Johnson, collector, Beed said, “Following chief minister Fadnavis’s directives, we do not tolerate any attempts of extortion, theft and deal with such cases with an iron hand. In an extortion case in Kaij a few months ago, strict action was taken. We intervene even when disputes arise between farmers and companies.”
The spokesperson for Wind Independent Power Producers Association (WIPPA), which represents the power generating firms, refused to comment on the issue.