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Molestation case: Panvel court rejects DIG’s pre-arrest bail plea
The Panvel sessions court on Thursday rejected the anticipatory bail application of deputy inspector general (DIG) Nishikant More, accused of molesting a minor girl
The Panvel sessions court on Thursday rejected the anticipatory bail application of deputy inspector general (DIG) Nishikant More, accused of molesting a minor girl at her birthday party in June last year.
The teenager went missing on Tuesday, naming the DIG in her suicide note. She is yet to be traced. “There are various inquiries pending against More, including the ones in a case of cheating and forgery. In the birthday video, he is clearly seen molesting the teenager. She has left a suicide note naming the DIG, which shows the amount of pressure coming from his side,” argued advocate Jaideep Thakkar, appearing for the girl’s family.
More’s wife Nishika claimed the girl’s suicide note is a ruse to “malign her husband because he is a senior officer” and the molestation case a “counter case” after her complaint against the family. “I had registered a case of molestation and cheating against them in August after the girl’s father showed up at my Kharghar apartment and abused me and my husband. He pulled my hair and hit me.
They have taken ₹20 lakh from us. When we moved the high court to cancel their bail in the cheating case, they came up with this case,” said Nishika.
Nishika added the girl used to keep coming to their house till June 26, almost 20 days after her birthday. She alleged that when they started demanding their money, the relations between them soured.
Meanwhile, the girl’s family recently alleged that Dinkar Salve, a Mumbai policeman and a driver of chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, allegedly threatened them on Panvel court premises. “On Monday, the policeman [Salve] stood next to the girl’s father and whispered in his ear, ‘What are you doing? This is a DIG’s matter, be careful what you say.’ The policeman, although CM’s driver now, has served as More’s driver for over a decade,” said Thakkar.
Zonal deputy commissioner of police Ashok Dudhe said, “We are trying to trace the girl, but I cannot share the details of the development of our probe.” He said the Panvel police will look into the allegations against Salve.
