Police today registered a case against Shiv Sena MP Anandrao Adsul and two of his supporters under the SC/ST Act and for other offences on a complaint filed by actor and the NCP candidate for Amravati constituency, Navneet Kaur Rana.
According to Rana, the matter pertains to the shooting of an election-related programme for a Marathi news channel yesterday morning.
During the shoot for the programme, on which rival candidates are supposed to debate inside a bus, Adsul allegedly lost his cool and made casteist remarks against Rana.
Besides Adsul and Rana, Gunwant Deopare, another candidate vying for the Amravati seat, too, was present for the shoot.
Rana claimed that Adsul reacted sharply when she questioned his development claims and made a derogatory remark about her character.
She also named Adsul's supporters Prakash Manjalwar and Nitin Tarekar in the police complaint in which she has accused the MP of character assassination, threatening her with dire consequences if she contested against him, and abusing her with reference to her caste.
Gadge Nagar police here have registered a case against Adsul and his two supporters for offences under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act (as Rana claims she belongs to a scheduled caste) and for criminal intimidation and outraging a woman's modesty.
When contacted, Adsul termed the charges false and baseless. He blamed Deputy Chief Minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar for the issue, saying that the latter had put pressure on police to register a case.
DCP Somnath Gharge said that police would obtain the footage from the TV shoot for the probe into the matter.
