Cong minister sentenced to 3 months in jail in policeman assault case

Maharashtra Women and Child Development Minister Yashomati Thakur. (Twitter @AdvYashomatiINC)

A district and sessions court on Thursday sentenced state Women and Child Development Minister Yashomati Thakur to three months of rigorous imprisonment for assaulting a policeman on duty in Amravati in 2012. She was also fined Rs 15,000.

The court also convicted three others in the case, including Thakur’s driver and two party workers. They were also awarded three months of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 15,500 each.

The minister, a Congress leader, and the trio will have to undergo additional one-month jail if they fail to pay the fine, the court said.

Thakur, also the Guardian Minister of Amravati district, said she will move the Bombay High Court against the verdict.

The court held the four guilty of beating up an on duty policeman who stopped her vehicle on a one-way lane on March 24, 2012 in the Chunabhatti area of Amravati.

According to the chargesheet, Thakur – then a Congress MLA – her driver Sagar Suresh Khandekar, party workers Sharad Kashirav Jawanjal and Raju Kisan Ingle, allegedly beat up traffic policeman Ulhas Raurale when he stopped her vehicle from entering a one-way lane. A heated exchange ensued, following which Thakur and her aides allegedly beat up Raurale.

Raurale went on to lodge a complaint with the Rajapeth police station, following which a case was registered.

Reacting to the verdict, Thakur told PTI, “I have always respected the judiciary as I am myself a lawyer. As such, it will not be proper for me to comment upon the judgment… But we are going to move to the High Court for justice. I can only say at this moment that truth shall prevail.”

On the possible demand for her resignation, Thakur said she was aware that Opposition BJP would seek her ouster from the Cabinet. “They only have this much work. My fight with the BJP is a battle of ideas. It (BJP) is out to end my political career, but I shall continue my fight against the BJP.”

Thakur was in Amravati on Thursday leading a farmers’ rally to protest the new farm laws.

When contacted, BJP spokesperson Shivrai Kulkarni said, “After this verdict, Thakur has no moral right to continue as a Cabinet minister. She should either resign or Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray should ensure that a minister who beats up a policeman on duty and is proved guilty is sacked.”

WITH PTI INPUTS

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