Hewalekar and his wife (extreme right) at Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis’s house. Hewalekar and his wife (extreme right) at Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis’s house.

DAYS AFTER he performed Ganesh puja at Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s house, Parmanand Hewalekar — the man from Sindhudurg, who had alleged caste-based social boycott — was arrested and released subsequently on bail Saturday for failing to attend court proceedings. In what could come as an embarrassment for the chief minister, it now turns out that Hewalekar is facing a charge of molestation based on a complaint filed at Kudal police station.

Hewalekar had been invited by chief minister to his official residence Varsha after he told him that he and his wife Preetan had been facing social boycott in their village in coastal Konkan. The duo had created commotion in front of the Mantralaya main gate Wednesday as they had turned up there with an idol of Ganesh after residents of their village in Mahadevwadi in Sindhudurg district barred them from celebrating Ganesh puja.

As per local police, a case of molestation had been registered against Hewalekar by a woman in his neighbourhood on August 7, 2013. The police had registered an FIR and also filed a chargesheet against Hewalekar in the local court in 2014.

Soon after, when the trial began, Hewalekar started skipping court proceedings, an officer said. “A warrant had been issued against Hewalekar for not attending court proceedings in the molestation case registered against him. Yesterday when he returned to Kudal, as per the arrest warrant issued by the court, he was arrested by the local police. He was presented before the local court that granted him bail,” confirmed Prashant Burde, Inspector General (Konkan Range).

Hewalekar along with his wife were camping outside Mantralaya alleging excesses against them by the local panchayat. Alarmed by Hewalekar’s plight, Fadnavis had invited him for puja at his residence on Thursday. The CM had also tweeted photographs of the couple performing puja at his residence. The CM had directed the Superintendent of Police, Sidhudurg and Collector, Sindhudurg district to probe the allegations.

Meanwhile, Congress general secretary Sachin Sawant had reportedly produced a warrant issued by the Kudal court against Hewalekar that had asked him to be present before the court on August 26 in connection with the case registered against him.

Sawant told the media that there was a case against Hewalekar under sections 354 (outraging the modesty of a woman), 452 (house trespass) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and that “the CM should be embarrassed”. On Sunday evening Sawant even tweeted “Embarassment for Maharashtra Parmanand Hewalekar who performed puja at CM res arrested” adding a link to a news article that reported his arrest.

Fadnavis could not be reached for comment.

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