Pune: The Pune police on Tuesday night registered an FIR against BJP’s city unit general secretary Pramod alias Pamya Kondhare (50) after a senior woman police officer accused him of pushing and touching her inappropriately during a function of a senior BJP politician in Kasba Peth on Monday afternoon, where she was deployed on bandobust duty.A video of Kondhare’s act was circulated on social media on Wednesday, after which state govt issued orders to Pune police commissionerate to initiate stringent action against him. Soon after the FIR was lodged against him, Kondhare resigned from his party post.“We registered the case as soon as the woman officer filed the complaint. She was touched inappropriately. The woman officer is well aware of the good and bad touch. An officer of the rank of assistant commissioner of police is investigating the case. We served Kondhare a notice asking him to cooperate with the investigations,” Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar said.The alleged incident took place at a function organised by Kasba MLA Hemant Rasane, where Union minister Nitin Gadkari was scheduled to visit. According to the police, the alleged misconduct happened before Gadkari’s arrival and was caught on CCTV cameras. Kondhare was questioned by the police on Wednesday morning.With this, Kondhare has become the second BJP office-bearer from Pune to face charges of crime against women this month. Earlier, an FIR was registered against Omkar Kadam, the city unit’s labour cell chief, on June 17 for allegedly harassing a woman PMC official. Both the incidents have sparked widespread criticism from the opposition parties, which have called for strict action against both Kadam and Kondhare.TOI on Wednesday afternoon made repeated calls to Kondhare and also sent him a text message, all of which remained unanswered till going to the press. The police have registered an FIR against Kondhare under sections 74 (assault or use of criminal force against a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty) and 75 (1) (sexual harassment) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Soon after the FIR, Kondhare tendered his resignation as the BJP general secretary of the Pune city unit.When contacted, Pune BJP unit chief Dheeraj Ghate confirmed Kondhare’s resignation and said the party was “extremely sensitive about women-related issues” and respected all women. “After the FIR was registered, Kondhare resigned as the general secretary of the Pune city unit of the party. In his letter, he stated that till the time investigation was going on, he should be relieved from his responsibilities in the party. The party has accepted his resignation. The police are carrying out the investigation and once it is concluded, we will know the exact facts,” Ghate told TOI.Kondhare has a previous case of molestation registered against him with the Deccan Gymkhana police station, besides other cases with the Khadak and Vishrambaug police stations.
