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Contractor suicide case: Ex-MLA seeks anticipatory bail, denies allegations
Former MLA Ravindra Dhangekar and his wife moved Court seeking interim anticipatory bail in the abetment of suicide case registered after the death of 65-year-old builder-contractor
Pune: Former MLA Ravindra Dhangekar and his wife, Pratibha Dhangekar, on Friday moved a Pune Sessions Court seeking interim anticipatory bail in the abetment of suicide case registered after the death of a 65-year-old builder-contractor.
The plea was filed before Additional Sessions Judge AS Gandhi through advocate Vijay Singh Thombre. The court has sought replies from the investigating officer and Swargate police and will hear the matter on Monday.
The FIR was registered on the complaint of the contractor’s wife, against 12 persons, including the Dhangekars. The contractor was found dead at his Gultekdi residence on Wednesday. Police are examining the alleged suicide note, a video recorded by the deceased, and other evidence.
In their plea, the Dhangekars claimed they had been falsely implicated. The defence argued that Ravindra Dhangekar’s name does not appear in the alleged suicide note, while Pratibha Dhangekar had resigned from the partnership firm nearly a year ago and had no role in its affairs thereafter.
Meanwhile, Ravindra on Friday denied withholding the contractor’s payments, claiming the construction project had been stalled due to political pressure, leading to financial losses.
Addressing the media, Ravindra said, “Our partners had undertaken a construction project. However, due to political pressure, the project was stalled, resulting in significant financial losses. We have approached the high court in the matter. To ensure my partners do not suffer further because of the controversy, I have resigned from the project.”
He said the pending amount was not ₹50 lakh as alleged and that the dues were to be cleared. He also announced that he had resigned from the project to prevent further losses to his partners.
Police said the investigation is underway to verify the allegations and determine the circumstances leading to the contractor’s death.
