The Mumbai Police Crime Branch on Tuesday recorded the statement of the woman who had lodged a complaint of rape against former Maharashtra minister and legislator Laxman Dhoble, of the NCP. In her statement, the complainant has identified a few witnesses, claimed the investigators. The women cell of crime branch headed by the deputy commissioner Supriya Yadav-Patil is supervising the probe. The complainant worked as a clerk with an educational trust of which Dhoble was a trustee. She had alleged that she was blackmailed and sexually abused by Dhoble for about two years. According to her complaint, the Solapur district MLA would call her into his office cabin and force her to perform sexual activities with him. She has alleged that he raped her between 2011 and January 2013, while threatening to circulate the obscene photographs of her. “We have recorded the statement of the complainant and based on her statement we are probing the case. There are several witnesses mentioned by the victim and we will be recording their statements too,” said a senior officer. On September 18, the Bombay High Court had transferred the case to the Mumbai Crime Branch. The woman had lodged the complaint with Borivali police station. The FIR against Dhoble was registered under sections 376 (rape), 323 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) and 506 (intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. However, the case was investigated by the Goregaon police as there were no women rank officers with Borivali police station. mumbai.newsline@expressindia.com
