Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) District Women's Front staged a "Rasta Roko" Andolan at Mumbai's Goregaon on Saturday, demanding a probe in the Pooja Chavan suicide case and the resignation of Maharashtra Forest Minister Sanjay Rathod, who is allegedly involved in the death of the 22-year-old woman.
"Minister with serious allegations in Pooja Chavan suicide case should resign! The BJP protested against this by burning a statue of Sanjay Rathore in Beed district," BJP Maharashtra tweeted.
Staging the protest in Goregaon, BJP leader Vidya Thakur said, "Our demand is Shiv Sena Minister Sanjay Rathod must resign from minister post and government should do an inquiry to find out links between Rathod with the suicide case of a 22-year-old woman in Pune." On Thursday, former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis hit out at the state government over Rathod's alleged involvement in the murder of a woman, saying that the government was more interested in celebrity tweets.
"There is ample evidence against Sanjay Rathod but nothing is happening. If media reports had not come out then nothing would have happened. Are we heading towards a banana republic? The police are under pressure. First, there has to be an investigation on the police itself," Fadnavis had said.
On February 8, Chavan had allegedly jumped off a building to end her life. Hailing from Parli town in Beed, Pooja had gone to Pune for an English speaking course. She lived in Heaven Park society along with two persons, who are reported to be her brother and one of his friends.
A couple of days after her death, some of her audio clips went viral on social media which the opposition took up and pointed accusing fingers at the Maharashtra Forest Minister Sanjay Rathod, demanding an investigation into the case.
The BJP has alleged that Rathod is connected with the mysterious death of the woman in Pune. However, Rathod has denied all allegations.
As per procedure, an accidental death (AD) case was registered with the Wanawadi police station in Pune. No complaint has so far been registered by Chavan's family.
