Mangaluru, Jan 9: Durga Vahini, the women's wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), on Tuesday demanded the immediate arrest of Mangaluru Urban Development Authority Commissioner Mansoor Ali, who is accused of allegedly harassing a woman staff at his office.

In a statement issued here, Swetha Adyapadi, the district convenor of Durga Vahini, also sought the officer's suspension from the post. A protest will be staged before the MUDA office if urgent action is not taken against the accused, she warned.

The woman who filed a complaint with the city police Commissioner has stated about the sexual, mental and physical harassment meted out to her by the officer, Adyapadi said.

VHP leader Sharan Pumpwell also urged the authorities to initiate appropriate legal action against the official immediately.

ALSO READ: Gold worth Rs 98.68 lakh seized at Mangaluru airport

Based on a complaint from the woman, an outsourced employee working as a typist at MUDA office, police on Sunday registered a case under Sections 354 and 354 A of IPC. The case is currently under investigation, police said.

Meanwhile, the accused Mansoor Ali visited the Urwa police station on Monday and submitted his statement to the investigating officer.

He alleged the woman had filed the complaint out of personal animosity after he asked her to file a detailed report of the general body meeting of MUDA, which she had earlier submitted without sufficient details. She was told to improve her work, failing which she might be removed from her job, Ali said.

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Melbourne (PTI): Australia skipper Pat Cummins' chances of playing at next year's T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka are "quite grey at the moment" as he battles a back stress issue that has affected his participation in the ongoing Ashes series against England.

Cummins returned to play the third Ashes Test in Adelaide after missing the opening two matches, picking up six wickets to help Australia clinch the series 3-0.

However, the Australian Test and ODI skipper will take no further part in the series and even his participation at the T20 World Cup is also uncertain. All-rounder Mitchell Marsh is Australia's T20I captain.

"Looking forward to the World Cup, whether he will be there or not, I can't really say. It's quite grey at the moment. We're hopeful," head coach Andrew McDonald was quoted as saying by 'ESPNCricinfo'.

The fast bowler was diagnosed with a lumbar stress reaction during Australia's tour of the West Indies in July. He underwent rehabilitation before being cleared for a carefully managed return in Adelaide.

"He's pulled up fine. He won't play any part in the rest of the series and that was a discussion that we had a long time out around his return," McDonald said.

"We were taking on some risk and people that reported on that would understand the risk associated with that rebuild. We've now won the series and that was the goal.

"So, to position him for further risk and jeopardise him long-term is not something that we want to do and Pat's really comfortable with that," he added.

The T20 World Cup is scheduled to begin on February 7 across India and Sri Lanka with the summit clash set for March 8.

Australia's first match is on February 11 against Ireland at Colombo. Although Cummins captains the Test and ODI teams, all-rounder Mitch Marsh leads Australia in the shortest format.