Sanjay Rathod resigns from ministerial post, demands fair investigation in Pooja Chavan death case

Ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly Budget session, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Rathod, who is allegedly involved in the death case of 22-year-old girl Pooja Chavan, on Sunday resigned from the post of Maharashtra Forest Minister and demanded a fair investigation in the matter.

He submitted his resignation to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray during a meeting at the Chief Ministers' residence where Urban Development and Public Works Minister Eknath Shinde was also present. The meeting lasted for more than two hours.

After submitting his resignation to the Chief Minister, Rathod said, "I have submitted my resignation to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. The media and others tried to spoil my and my community's image. I want a fair investigation in this case. They (opposition) are warning us that they won't allow the budget session to function, I believe in Balasaheb Ambekar's constitution. The way the opposition is behaving, I have distanced myself from all this for a fair investigation. Let the police investigate it."

On Thursday, former Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis hit out at the state government over Rathod's alleged involvement in the murder of a woman, saying that the government was more interested in celebrity tweets.

On February 8, Chavan had allegedly jumped off a building in Pune to end her life. Hailing from Parli town in Beed, Pooja had gone to Pune for an English speaking course. A couple of days after her death, some of her audio clips went viral on social media which the opposition took up and pointed fingers at the Maharashtra Forest Minister Sanjay Rathod, demanding an investigation into the case.

The BJP has alleged that Rathod is connected with the mysterious death of the woman in Pune. However, Rathod had denied all allegations.

As per procedure, an accidental death (AD) case was registered with the Wanawadi police station in Pune. No complaint has so far been registered by Chavan's family.

( With inputs from ANI )