Mumbai, Apr 16: The Chembur police in Mumbai have arrested Vishnu Patil, a personal assistant of Maharashtra Health minister Vijay Kumar Gavit on charge of molesting a woman, police said.
A 28-year-old woman had alleged before police that Vishnu Patil asked her to go out for a drink on the pretext of getting her work done and molested her, according to police. The incident happened a couple of days ago. Vishnu Patil was arrested from a hotel in Chembur.
Vishnu Patil was arrested under section 354 IPC. According to police, he had called the woman to the hotel to discuss the issue of transfer of a hospital nurse and then molested her.
After the woman started screaming, people gathered at the hotel, bashed up the PA and handed him over to the police.
The woman said, she was trying to meet Minister Gavit for the last several days, and his PA had assured her that he would do her job. Patil then called her to Tara Punjab hotel in Chembur.
Vijay Kumar Gavit is a senior NCP leader in Maharashtra and this incident has caused acute embarassment to the party.
Patil was later granted bail by a local court.
"He (Patil) was produced before a court in Bhoiwada which granted him bail on a personal bond of Rs 15,000," B B Rathod, senior Inspector at Chembur police station said.
According to police, the 28-year-old woman had recently approached Patil seeking his help in transfer of her friends working as nurses in different hospitals, to the places of their choice.
According to police, Patil was in touch with the victim over phone since she met him in the first week of this month. PTI