Police in Goa arrested Porvorim legislator and former minister Rohan Khaunte late on Thursday for allegedly threatening a BJP leader with dire consequences before releasing him early on Friday on bail.
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s spokesperson Premanand Mhambrey had accused Khaunte of grabbing him by the hand and threatening after he accused Khaunte of several irregularities at a press conference.
Deputy superintendent of police Edwin Colaço confirmed the development.
“He was arrested last night from his residence. He has since been released on bail,” Colaço said.
Khaunte was arrested under sections 341 (wrongful restrainment) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The police also sought the permission of the Speaker before effecting the arrest since the legislative assembly is in session.
Khaunte is an independent MLA and served as the revenue minister under Manohar Parrikar. He was dropped from the cabinet after 10 Congress MLAs joined the BJP en masse.
According to Mhambrey, the incident took place within the corridors of the Goa Legislative Assembly, when he had gone there to meet chief minister Pramod Sawant.
“No sooner did the session end in the evening (Wednesday), Khaunte emerged from the hall and noticed me. He grabbed me by the hand and asked me threateningly about the allegations I had made. He then began to walk away, but then turned around and threatened me saying: ‘I will take care of you’,” Mhambrey said during a press conference on Wednesday evening.
The BJP leader later filed a police complaint against Khaunte.
Khaunte in a counter-press conference had labelled Mhambrey’s allegations as ‘false’.
He is expected to attend the session on Thursday which will see chief minister Sawant present his first-ever budget.
