Woman who accused Maha minister Gore of harassment held for Rs3cr ‘extortion bid’

Kolhapur: A Satara woman, who had accused state minister Jaykumar Gore of harassment, was arrested while accepting Rs 1 crore as the first tranche of Rs 3 crore she allegedly demanded to settle the matter, police said on Friday.
Gore had claimed that the 47-year-old woman demanded the extortion money through a Wai resident, Viraj Ratansinha Shinde, to avoid sitting on a 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 sections 61 (2) [criminal conspiracy], 308 (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) [related to extortion], 351(3) [criminal conspiracy], and 3(5) [common intention] of BNS. She will be produced before a court in Satara on Saturday. We have ample evidence to seek her police custody," said inspector Arun Devkar of the local crime branch in Satara.
Though TOI tried to contact Gore for his comment, his phone was in switched-off mode 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 interviews 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 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 sent to judicial custody till March 26 by Vaduj court.
The woman's allegations against Gore triggered an uproar in the ongoing session of the assembly, with the opposition demanding his resignation. The minister, however, brought a breach of privilege against NCP(SP) MLA Rohit Pawar and Kharat.
Following the woman's arrest, the 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 the 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 a conspiracy hatched by the opposition to defame the minister and force him to resign. "Now that the conspiracy is out in the open, I hope that those behind the plot will soon get exposed."