BJP leader Shelar arrested over remarks against Mumbai Mayor, released on bail

BJP MLA Ashish Shelar. File Pic

Maharashtra BJP MLA Ashish Shelar was arrested in a case registered against him for his alleged objectionable remarks about Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar, and later released on bail, police officials said on Friday.

Shelar was arrested by police on Thursday afternoon and later released on bail on a surety of Rs 1 lakh as the charges under which he was booked were bailable, said a senior official.

Pednekar, a Shiv Sena leader, had on Wednesday filed a complaint against Shelar at the Marine Drive police station in south Mumbai over his alleged remarks following which a case under sections 354 A (4) (making sexually coloured remark) and 509 (words or gestures insulting woman's modesty) of the IPC was registered against the former minister.

Shelar, along with a group of BJP leaders and his supporters, went to the police station, where he was placed under arrest and released on bail, the official said.

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On December 4, Shelar, while addressing a press conference, had made the alleged objectionable comments against the Mayor while criticising the Shiv Sena-ruled Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's handling of a cylinder blast incident in Worli, in which three members of a family died.

Earlier on Thursday, the 49-year-old MLA from Vandre West in Mumbai had claimed his comments pertaining to Pednekar were distorted.

Speaking to reporters, the BJP leader had said, "The police complaint filed against me is based on a press statement made some days back. The entire video of the press conference is there in public domain. However, to enable a legal action against me, my words have been distorted deliberately."

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