India, Nov. 15 -- A special MCOCA court in Maharashtra's Beed district has refused to discharge four men accused in the abduction and killing of Santosh Deshmukh, a village sarpanch, linked to an extortion bid against a private energy company.

Delivering the order on November 11, Special Judge VH Patwadkar held that witness statements and documents "prima facie, show complicity of the applicants/accused in the said crimes".

According to investigations, eight individuals were arrested in connection with the sarpanch's death, including a man described in police reports as being allegedly closely associated with former Maharashtra minister and senior NCP leader Dhananjay Munde.

The accused were booked under MCOCA, the Scheduled Castes and...