Nilesh Rane, Maharashtra BJP leader and son of former CM Naraya Rane has shared some social media posts claiming that Aaditya Thackeray, the Maharashtra Environment Minister and son of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had visited a Cambodian street infamous for drugs and prostitution.
The junior Rane claimed that Aaditya Thackeray had posted on his Instagram account an image from PUB street in Cambodia, the place infamous for narcotics and underage prostitution.
@AUThacks हे private instagram account दिसत असून गेल्या अनेक वर्षांपासून काही मोठया स्टारच्या आणि युवासेनेच्या अनेक पोस्ट मध्ये या अकाऊंटला टैग करण्यात आलेले आहे.. त्यामुळे Pub_Street_Combodia चा अर्थ जोडलेले फोटो बघून कळेल आपल्याला, पेंग्विन किती बरबटलेला आहे. pic.twitter.com/OhNi8jbKND
— Nilesh N Rane (@meNeeleshNRane) September 11, 2020
“@AUThacks is a private Instagram account of Aaditya Thackeray and has been tagged by several celebrities and in several posts made by the official Twitter account of the ‘Yuva Sena’. Therefore, you can understand the reason behind penguin’s frustration by looking at what the PUB street of Cambodia is known for in the attached image,” the English translation of Nilesh’s tweet in Marathi read.
Rane’s allegations were based on a social media user’s tweet, who had shared a screenshot of the Maharashtra CM’s son’s Instagram account, saying that the display image was from Cambodia’s infamous Pub Street. Rane then shared screenshots of tweets by the Twitter account of Yuva Sena in which Aaditya Thackeray’s Instagram account was tagged, in a bid to lend legitimacy to his claim that it was Aaditya and not an imposter, who had shared the controversial image.
Bollywood celebrities follow Instagram account AUThacks
Though it is not confirmed whether the AUThacks account indeed belongs to the CM’s son, the Instagram account AUThacks is also followed by celebrities such as Riteish Deshmukh, Disha Patani, Jacqueline Fernandes, and Karan Johar. Rane had also shared pictures from Jacqueline’s Instagram account where the account AUThacks was tagged by the actress in a picture where she is seen with Aaditya Thackeray.
Until the time of publishing this report, Aaditya Thackeray had not responded to the allegations levelled by Nilesh Rane. We will update the article, if and when the Maharashtra Environment Minister issues a clarification on the matter.
It is notable here that Aaditya Thackeray’s Instagram account @adityathackeray is a public, verified account and the said picture mentioned by Rane is not there.
Pub street, Siem Reap, Cambodia
The Pub Street, or street no 8 in Cambodia’s northwestern Siem Reap city, is a popular tourist destination for the party-loving crowd. Though frequented by tourists from around the world, many nations have travel advisories warning travellers about the crimes, rampant prostitution, sexual assault, robbery and drug spiking happening in Pub Street. Drug hauls and cases of street crime are rampant in this area. The Pub Street was popularised in the early 2000s, especially after actress Angelina Jolie visited a bar there during the shooting of her Lara Croft movie.
