KALYAN: More than a month after a 22-year-old married woman accused former BJP MLA Narendra Pawar and dismissed police constable Shailesh Patil of gang-raping her at a farmhouse in Bhiwandi taluka, the Congress has questioned the police investigation, alleging that the accused are being shielded.Kanchan Kulkarni, Congress group leader in the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) who had helped victim to get FIR registered in this case, has accused the police of inaction and questioned why the two accused have not been arrested despite the seriousness of the allegations.She alleged that the police were extending help to the accused and demanded accountability over the delay in their arrest.The case was registered at Padgha police station in September following a complaint by the woman, who alleged that Pawar had called her to his office on the pretext of helping resolve a dispute with her husband.According to the FIR, she was subsequently taken to a farmhouse in Bapgaon, where Pawar and Patil allegedly sexually assaulted her. The complaint also mentions the alleged use of a firearm to threaten her.Senior inspector Pankaj Giri of Padgha police station said six police teams had been deployed to trace the accused. Search operations were also being conducted at railway stations and airports, according to information provided by the police.Kulkarni questioned the delay in the arrests, arguing that the police act swiftly against ordinary citizens but have yet to apprehend the accused in this case. Her allegations have brought the pace of the investigation under renewed scrutiny.Meanwhile, the Bhiwandi additional sessions court had rejected Pawar’s anticipatory bail application on September 28.The court observed that the allegations were serious, that a prima facie case had been made out and that custodial interrogation was necessary for an effective investigation.With both accused yet to be arrested, the focus is now on the police’s efforts to trace them and the progress of the investigation amid the Congress’s allegations of inaction.
