Mumbai: BJP MLA, leader arrested for ‘outraging modesty’ of cop

According to police, the incident happened during a programme to distribute safety kits to labourers at Tumsar on September 16. “We had conducted a detailed inquiry upon a complaint by the police officer. The two leaders were arrested following confirmation of the incident in the inquiry,” Sidam said. A local court has remanded Waghmare and Jibhkate to judicial custody till October 10.

A senior BJP leader from Bhandara, who did not wish to be named, said: “Waghmare is a victim of the party’s internal politics. Some leaders are trying to push him to the sidelines. He has decided not to seek bail and remain in jail till he is acquitted by court. He had approached the police immediately after the woman

PSI had filed a FIR and demanded that he be arrested. The police didn’t arrest him then. He has
said that he doesn’t care about the forthcoming Assembly elections and will not come out of the jail till he is acquitted.”

Waghmare, who had joined the BJP before 2009, successfully contested the 2014 Assembly elections from Tumsar constituency on the party’s ticket. He was earlier with the Shiv Sena and the NCP.

District BJP president Pradeep Padole said, “He (Waghmare) says he hasn’t committed the crime, but since the woman police officer has made the allegations, we will have to allow the law to take its own course. We don’t know what the truth is, but he (Waghmare) will come out unscathed if he hasn’t done anything wrong.”

Padole, considered as Waghmare’s rival in the party, is a close confidante of Minister of State for Forest and Bhandara District Guardian Minister Parinay Fuke.