MUMBAI: Complete within a week the probe into the rape allegations against social justice minister Dhananjay Munde of the NCP as well his complaint against the woman who has made the accusation, state home minister Anil Deshmukh told Mumbai police on Friday.
In a related development, at a high-level meeting in the presence of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, it was decided not to sack Munde from the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) cabinet in view of the “serious blackmail complaints” against the woman by former BJP MLA Krishna Hegde, MNS worker Manish Dhuri and a private individual.
“We discussed the entire case, particularly the rape allegations against Munde, at length. It was felt that in view of serious allegations of blackmailing against the woman and that too by three persons of different ideologies, instead of taking any action in haste against Munde, we should wait for the outcome of the police report,’’ a senior NCP cabinet member told TOI.
Pawar later said: “The NCP wants an ACP-rank woman officer to be part of the police investigation team.” ACP Jyotsna Rasam is already seized of the case and has recorded the woman’s statement.