A day after terming the rape accusations against Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde as a serious matter, NCP chief has now demanded a probe by Mumbai Police in the matter.
A singer named Renu Sharma, who claims to be Munde's sister-in-law, in a letter addressed to police, had claimed that Munde raped her on multiple occasions.
However, Munde denied the allegation against him and levelled blackmailing charges against the woman.
Speaking to media about the matter, Sharad Pawar said, "Yesterday when I commented on Munde issue, I said that the issue was serious but then certain facts were not in the public domain."
However, he said that he got to know that there were similar complaints against the same lady by different political party leaders and thus the matter must be investigated by lady assistant commissioner of police.
"Let Mumbai Police do their investigation first. Whenever the fact in the investigation comes out, we will think of probable action," Pawar added.
The statement by Pawar comes on the backdrop of a complaint against the singer by BJP leader Krishna Hegde, who is a former Congress legislator. Hegde filed a complaint in Amboli police station against the singer for plotting a honey trap and blackmailing him since 2010.
Apart from Hegde, an MNS politician, too, has made similar allegations against her.
Yesterday, reacting to the rape accusations against Munde, NCP chief said that the allegations against Dhananjay Munde are serious and he will have to speak to the party regarding the same.
Followed by the remark by NCP chief, a high-level meeting was held on Thursday night. In the meeting, NCP decided to let Munde continue in the cabinet post for now.
Top NCP leaders, including party president Sharad Pawar, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Water Resources Minister Jayant Patil and senior leader Praful Patel, attended the meeting.
Meanwhile, Renu Sarma has announced that she will be briefing the media at 3 pm today.
(With inputs from PTI)
