Maha NCP minister's brother arrested on charges of rape

The Satara police has arrested Rushikant Shinde, the elder brother of Maharashtra minister Shashikant Shinde, following a complaint by a 33-year-old woman accusing him of rape. The accused was produced in court today and has been remanded in four days police custody. The Satara city police has registered a case under section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code against Rushikant. “The woman has alleged in her complaint that the accused entered her house on the pretext of discussing a real estate proposal and sexually assaulted her,” said RC Pisal, police inspector of Satara police station [caption id=“attachment_1394981” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AFP[/caption] Pisal added that the accused has been arrested subsequently. “Further investigation in the case is on,” said Pisal. Shashikat Shinde belongs to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by union minster Sharad Pawar. Shinde is the minster for water resources (Krishna Valley Irrigation Corporation) and guardian minster of Satara district of Western Maharashtra. “If the charges are true, then the police should carry out an investigation in the case without pressure. The police should also investigate all the angles of the case,” Shinde told Firstpost. He added, “We have been living separately for more than a decade and meet occasionally. I am of the opinion that if the allegations are found true, then action should be taken against the accused as per the law. Also, I will break all the ties with him,” said Shinde adding that there will no pressure from him on the police.