Thane: The Thane police on Tuesday registered a case of assault and abduction against former Congress MP Nilesh Rane and four others on the basis of a complaint filed by a Chiplun-based Congress worker.


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However, Nilesh denied the allegations.


Nobody has been arrested in the case yet as it would be transferred to the police at Chiplun, said the PRO of city police, Gajanan Kadbule.


 


The complainant Sandeep S Sawant, who is the chief of Chiplun tehsil unit of Congress, has been admitted to a hospital here.


According to Sawant, Nilesh had organised a rally in Chiplun on the issue of reservations for the Maratha community on April 24.


Nilesh had asked Sawant to be present for the rally with his supporters, but Sawant could not attend it as his mother was sick.


On the night of April 24, Nilesh, his personal assistant and his bodyguard went to Sawant's house and abused him. They also allegedly asked him to offload some luggage from their car, and then put him in the car forcibly and drove off.


After reaching Mumbai last morning, Sawant was taken to Sindhudurg Bhavan at Andheri after Nilesh went to his house in Juhu. Nilesh's men allegedly beat Sawant up and locked him in a room at Sindhudurg Bhavan.


Nilesh arrived there later in the day, and he too allegedly beat up Sawant with a hockey stick, according to the complaint.


Police have registered a case against Nilesh and others under sections 323 (assault), 341 (wrongful restraint) 363 (kidnapping) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.


Later Nilesh's men drove Sawant to Jogeshwari area of Mumbai and let him off. He then reached Thane.


At present, he is admitted at the ICU of Thane Civil Hospital.


However, speaking to a news-channel, Nilesh Rane denied that he ever assaulted Sawant.


"I have been working in Ratnagiri district for the last ten years. Let anyone point out a single incident like this in the past. I care for my party workers.


This is a political conspiracy to undermine the cause of Maratha reservations," he said.


He also alleged that Sawant had demanded some money from him, and when he could not help him, Sawant became party to this conspiracy by rival political parties.