Opposition seeks ex-Mumbai BJYM chief's arrest in molestation case

The Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly on Wednesday sought immediate arrest of former Mumbai unit president of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), Ganesh Pandey, who was booked for allegedly molesting a woman member of the BJP youth wing.

Raising the issue in the House, NCP leader Jayant Patil said the complainant was concerned about her safety as Pandey hasn't been arrested so far. "Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also heads the Home Department, had assured Pandey will be nabbed. Despite this assurance he is roaming freely," he said.

An FIR has been registered at Versova police station on the basis of a complaint filed by the woman who had alleged that Pandey harassed her, he said. 

Pandey posed to her obscene questions and passed lewd remarks on her in a hotel room in Mathura on March 4 during the BJYM's three-day executive committee meeting, Patil said. Fadnavis has asked the Women Commission to probe the matter but nothing concrete will emerge as this body is headed by a BJP worker, Patil said. 

Speaker Haribhau Bagde said the government should fulfill the promise made in the House. In her written complaint to BJP city unit president Ashish Shelar, the woman had stated that Pandey had also "held her hand" when she tried to leave the room. According to the police, the woman has alleged in her complaint that Pandey had texted her several messages which were in "bad taste".