Woman who accused Maharashtra minister Jaykumar Gore of harassment held for extortion

KOLHAPUR: A Satara-based woman who had accused Maharashtra minister Jaykumar Gore of harassment was arrested while accepting Rs 1 crore as the first tranche of the Rs 3 crore she had allegedly demanded to settle the matter, police said on Friday.

Gore, who is state rural development and panchayati raj minister, had claimed that the woman had demanded the extortion money through a Wai resident, Viraj Ratansinha Shinde, to not sit in protest at Raj Bhavan, a police officer said.

The woman had allegedly told Shinde that if the money was not paid, she would also accuse the minister of raping her and lead a campaign seeking his resignation, the officer said.

"Shinde approached us with the complaint that the woman was blackmailing the minister. With the help of two witnesses, the complainant arranged Rs 1 crore (arranged in 10 wads of Rs 10 lakh each). She told the complainant to come to her lawyer's officer, where we arrested her while she was accepting the money. A case has been registered with Satara city police station under BNS Sections 61 (2) [criminal conspiracy], 308 (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) [related to extortion], 351(3) [criminal conspiracy], and 3(5) [common intention]. She will be produced before a court in Satara on Saturday. We have ample evidence to seek police custody," said inspector Arun Devkar of the local crime branch in Satara.

Though TOI tried to contact Gore for comment, his phone was switched off till late evening and text messages remained unanswered.

In 2016, the woman had accused Gore of sexual harassment, assault, stalking, and transmitting material containing sexually explicit acts. Recently, in an interview on an online video-sharing platform, she alleged that Gore was maligning her image and that she was coming on record in public about the 2016 case. Gore denied the charges, stating that he had fought a legal battle and the court had acquitted him. On March 10 this year, Satara police arrested journalist Tushar Kharat after Gore alleged that he had sought Rs 5 crore to stop the smear campaign. After his police custody ended, Kharat was remanded in judicial custody till March 26 by a Vaduj court.

The woman's allegations triggered an uproar in the ongoing assembly session, with the opposition demanding his resignation. The minister, however, brought a breach of privilege motion against NCP(SP) MLA Rohit Pawar and Kharat.

Following the woman's arrest, opposition questioned the circumstances leading to the payment of Rs 1 crore and the source of the cash.

Rohit Pawar said: "What did the woman possess that Gore agreed to pay her Rs 1 crore? There was an agreement between the woman and Gore that if the latter stopped harassing her, she would let him free. What was the reason for agreement?"

NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule said: "After demonetisation, how can a person have Rs 1 crore in cash? It was a double-engine govt that brought in demonetisation. The question arises whether the woman had sought the money or it was deliberately handed to her. Central agencies, such as ED and CBI, should investigate the source of Rs 1 crore cash."

Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said, "The journalist and the woman were arrested in the same way. It is sheer misuse of power." BJP MLA Parinay Phuke, however, said it was an opposition conspiracy to defame the minister and force him to resign.