Maha BJP removes functionary over ‘extortion’ video with woman

MUMBAI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Maharashtra has removed its Solapur district (rural) president Shrikant Deshmukh after a video purportedly showing him with a woman went viral, a party leader said on Tuesday.

Mumbai Police has registered a case against the woman on Deshmukh’s complaint of “extortion”, an official said on Tuesday night.

“A video regarding Shrikant Deshmukh is out and state BJP president Chandrakant Patil has removed him from the post after he resigned,” state BJP vice president Chitra Wagh said.

Wagh said the woman seen in the video clip should come forward and lodge a police complaint. “Appropriate action will be taken,” she added.

The woman who recorded the video clip alleged that Deshmukh had an affair with her but has cheated on her.

Meanwhile, Mumbai Police has registered a First Information Report (FIR) under the charge of extortion against the woman seen in the video on a complaint lodged by Deshmukh two days back, an official said on Tuesday night.

Deshmukh had stated that he was “honey-trapped” by the 32-year-old woman, a resident of Oshiwara in Mumbai, the official said.

Police have booked the woman under section 384 (punishment for extortion) of the Indian Penal Code, but no arrest is made so far, the official added.

The video recorded by the woman shows she was sobbing while Deshmukh is sitting on a bed in a room. She claimed that he had cheated on her by keeping relations with her.

Deshmukh took charge as the Solapur district rural president of BJP around one and a half years ago.

He cannot be reached for his comments.