Pune (PTI): Ahead of the Maharashtra assembly polls, NCP (SP) MLA Ashok Pawar's son has alleged he was kidnapped by a group of persons who demanded Rs 10 crore from him, police said on Sunday.

The police on Saturday registered a First Information Report (FIR) against three men and a woman in this connection, they said.

The accused allegedly asked Rushiraj Pawar, the son of the Shirur MLA in Pune district, to come with them for a meeting with some persons who wanted to join the NCP (SP), as per the FIR.

The accused them took him on their motorbike to a bungalow, as per the FIR registered on Rushiraj Pawar's complaint.

He was also forced to film an obscene video with an unidentified woman, the complainant claimed.

The accused allegedly demanded Rs 10 crore for not circulating the video on social media, the FIR said.

Rushiraj came out of the bungalow on the pretext of arranging the ransom money and escaped. He later approached police and lodged a complaint against the accused.

Based on the complaint, the Shirur police registered the FIR against four persons under relevant legal provisions,.

"As per the complaint received, we have registered a case and further probe is on," Superintendent of Police Pankaj Deshmukh said.

The state assembly polls are scheduled on November 20.

 

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Sambhal (UP) (PTI): Police used tear gas and "minor force" in the face of stone pelting by locals here on Sunday as tension escalated during a second survey of the Mughal-era mosque, claimed to be originally the site of an ancient Hindu temple.

Tension has been seething in Sambhal over the past few days after the Jama Masjid was surveyed last Tuesday on the orders of a local court following a petition that claimed that a Harihar temple stood at the site.

According to the local administration, a second survey by an "Advocate Commissioner" as part of a court-ordered examination into the disputed site began around 7 am and a crowd began gathering at the spot.

"Some miscreants came out of the crowd gathered near the site and pelted stones at the police team. The police used minor force and tear gas to bring the situation under control," Superintendent of Police Krishna Kumar Vishnoi said.

He said those who engaged in stone pelting and those who incited them will be identified and action taken against them.

District Magistrate Rajendra Pesia said, "Some miscreants resorted to stone pelting but the situation is peaceful now and the survey is underway."

Videos of youths throwing stones at police, purportedly near the site of the survey in Sambhal have surfaced on the Internet.

Supreme Court lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain, who is also the petitioner in the case, had said the Court of Civil Judge (Senior Division) ordered the constitution of an "Advocate Commission" to survey the mosque.

The court has said that a report should be filed after conducting a videography and photography survey through the commission, he had said.

The Central and Uttar Pradesh governments, the mosque committee and the district magistrate of Sambhal have been made parties in the petition concerning the mosque, Jain said last Tuesday.

Vishnu Shankar Jain and his father Hari Shankar Jain have represented the Hindu side in many cases related to places of worship, including the Gyanvapi Mosque-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute.

Gopal Sharma, a local lawyer for the Hindu side, told PTI on Friday that in his petition filed in the court, he mentioned that "Baburnama" and the "Ain-e-Akbari" has confirmed that a Harihar temple was at the site where the Jama Masjid now stands.

He also claimed that the temple was demolished by Mughal Emperor Babur in 1529.

Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq had objected to the developments.

"The Jama Masjid of Sambhal is historical and very old. The Supreme Court had given the order in 1991 that whatever religious places are there in whatever condition since 1947, they will remain at their places," he had said.

The next date for hearing in this case is January 29.