Thane: A police officer's wife allegedly filed a molestation case against Bhartiya Janata Party's (BJP) Dombivli office bearer Nandu Joshi at Manpada police station. The First Information Report (FIR) has been registered against Joshi said a police officer from Manpada police station on Thursday.
Shekhar Bagade, senior police inspector, Manpada police station said, "As per the complaint, Nandu Joshi forced woman to vacate her flat and repeatedly demanded sexual favours from her. The dispute between the husband, who is a police personnel, and Joshi has been on for some years now. The complainant alleged that Joshi was interfering in a case her husband was probing into."
The police registered a case against Joshi under sections 354 A (sexual harassment), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Nandu Joshi refutes claims
Joshi, however, has refuted the charges levelled against him and said that he has not interacted with complainant in last 10 years. He claimed that he is friends with the woman's husband and has helped him with many cases.
"The woman was being harassed by her husband and she misunderstood that it is because of me. Thus, she filed the case against me. Police should carry out work in accordance to the law; I will not apply for anticipatory bail," Nandu claimed.
BJP workers irked
The BJP workers have been simmering since they heard of the case against Joshi. An officebearer from Kalyan, Shashikant Kamble, opined that they party will hold protest in front of the concerned police station today.
Kamble said, "This is a ploy to defame BJP and Joshi; the case against him has been falsified. This case could have been manufactured since the civic polls are approaching."
Meanwhile, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) workers have demanded the immediate arrest of Joshi.
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