Maha minister Sanjay Rathod linked to woman's death surfaces, visits temple

Maharashtra Forest Minister Sanjay Rathod who was not seen in public after his name was linked to the death of a woman in Pune visited a temple in Washim district on Tuesday and later dismissed the allegations against himTalking to reporters after visiting the Pohradevi Temple in Washim Rathod claimed dirty politics was being played following the womans unfortunate deathThe Shiv Sena leader also expressed confidence that truth will come out following a probe into the matterThe opposition BJP in the state however demanded removal of Rathod as minister and a comprehensive probe into the womans deathThe 23yearold woman died after falling from a building in Hadapsar area of Pune on February 8Some social media posts and the BJP earlier alleged that Rathod was connected to the death of the womanOn Tuesday the minister travelled by road from his residence in Yavatmal to the Pohradevi Temple in neighbouring Washim where he sought blessings and took part in ritualsA large number of Rathods supporters thronged the venue in apparent violation of the social distancing normsLater in a brief interaction with media Rathod said he and the Banjara community to which he belongs are pained by the womans death and share her familys griefThe minister said his family and the community should not be defamed by latching on to the incidentThe death of Puja Chavan who belonged to our community in Pune was unfortunate The entire community is pained by the death Me and our entire community is part of the Chavan familys grief Rathod saidBut the kind of politics that is being played following the incident is wrong and baseless he saidI can tell you that there is no substance in what is being said in the media and on social media said Rathod who is also the guardian minister of YavatmalHe said Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has ordered a probe into the matter and the police are doing their jobI request you not to defame me my family and my community Lets wait for the probe finding he saidWhen a journalist asked about him allegedly disappearing for two weeks Rathod said he was not in the public eye for 10 days but continued to workI was seeing the love of you media all on TV I have old parents my wife who has blood pressure issues and children Over the past 10 days I took care of them when this love came my way My government work was on I did not stop doing that he saidOn the images of him and the woman doing rounds on social media Rathod said his community loves him and several people get themselves photographed with himI have been working in the social sector for 30 years Dont put me in the wrong box just because of one incident he addedThe minister said following his visit to the temple he will resume work as earlierMeanwhile Maharashtra BJP vice president Chitra Wagh alleged that Rathod was responsible for the womans deathThe chief minister should immediately remove Rathod from his post and order a thorough probe into the case It was disgusting to see Sanjay Rathod trying to hide behind his community she told reporters in MumbaiWagh alleged that Rathod and his supporters violated COVID19 prevention norms at the templeChief Minister Uddhav Thackeray should take action against him she saidLeader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council Praveen Darekar said The way Rathod organised a huge gathering at the temple in Washim is condemnable We will raise the issue in the Assembly as wellThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever