Headlines
IAS officer in Pune arrested for rape, suspended
Pune, March 20
A senior IAS officer, arrested
on the charges of raping four minor girl students, was sent to police
custody till March 30 by a magistrate here on Friday.
In a
separate action, the Maharashtra government suspended the officer,
Maruti H. Sawant, Director-General, Maharashtra Council of Agricultural
Education & Research (MCAER), Agriculture Minister Eknath Khadse
said in Mumbai Friday evening.
According to police, Sawant was
nabbed from his home and late Thursday booked under laws pertaining to
rape and molestation of at least four minor girls aged between 8-10
years recently.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the
victims include two minor girls studying in Class 2 and one each in
Class 3 and Class 7, who were lured by Sawant with chocolates, sweets
and Rs.15 over the past couple of months.
Deputy Commissioner of
Police Sudhakar Pathare told media that the police are recording the
individual statements of each victim whom he lured with offers of food
to his building basement and then sexually assaulted them.
Sawant
is being interrogated to ascertain whether there are any more victims
of his sordid acts, committed in the Hingne-Kurd area of the city.
The
matter came to light recently when the girls complained to their
municipal school counsellor, who in turn informed the principal.
The
principal brought it to the notice of a local municipal corporator
Shrikant Jagtap of Sinhagad area, who finally alerted the police on
Thursday.
Besides Indian Penal Code sections, Sawant has also
been changed under sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual
Offences Act, Pathare said.
Sawant, 58, a promotee IAS officer of
1998 batch is due for retirement in the next few months and has earlier
held senior postings in social welfare, agriculture and sports
departments.