Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Rathod submits resignation as demand for his arrest in Pooja Chavan’s suicide case rises: Report

The 22-year-old TikTok celebrity Pooja Chavan’s suicide case has created tremendous political pressure on the Shiv Sena government, especially after the name of one of its cabinet minister, Sanjay Rathod surfaced in connection with the case. Amidst increasing demands for his immediate resignation and arrest, local reports suggest that the Shiv Sena cabinet minister has sent his resignation to Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray’s office Tuesday.

While the Shiv Sena motormouth leader Sanjay Raut has chosen to remain tight-lipped on this recent development, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya took to Twitter to confirm the news of the Shiv Sena’s cabinet minister’s resignation. The BJP leader, however, did not appear happy with just resignation and demanded that Rathod be arrested and jailed immediately.

https://twitter.com/KiritSomaiya/status/1361554193811722243?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Earlier, we reported how after many audio clips allegedly linked to Pooja Chavan’s death, moreover, alluding to the involvement of the state minister, went viral on social media, many BJP leaders namely Devendra Fadnavis, Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, Kirit Somaiya, demanded a detailed inquiry in the case. Somaiya also demanded that Rathod be sacked from the Cabinet and arrested immediately.

Hinting that the voice in the purported audio clip was that of the Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Rathod, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Friday, “The voice in the clip is very easily recognisable by all, and police should also reveal whose voice is there in that clip which is being hidden by the police,” said the BJP leader adding that his office received these 12 clips of conversation between two persons linked to the woman’s death, and he had forwarded them to the Director-General of Police.

Moreover, some social media posts claimed that Pooja Chavan was in a relationship with the Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Rathod.

After the suicide case of the TikTok celebrity snowballed into a political row in Maharashtra, with the National Commission for Women (NCW) also taking cognisanze of the case and seeking a report on the death of Pooja Chavan from the Maharashtra Director General of Police (DGP), Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray stepped in, confirming that an enquiry is underway and the truth will surface after the probe is over.