Chairman of Maharashtra Legislative Council Dr Neelam Gorhe has demanded that Dr Dharmesh Dhawankar be suspended and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) may be constituted for enquiry against him.
Dr Gorhe has raised the demand with Higher Education Minister Chandrakant Patil.
Dhawankar is facing charges of extortion from at least seven teachers of RTM Nagpur University. Dhawankar, a teacher himself with the University’s Department of Mass Communication, threatened the university teachers of making public complaints against them relating to sexual exploitation of some students. Without verifying whether any such complaint was lodged the teachers paid him lakhs of rupees.
The issue came to light when the teachers lodged a complaint with the Vice-Chancellor Dr Subhash Chaudhari. The money extorted by Dhawankar is more than Rs 15 lakh. Several other misdeeds of Dhawankar are being reported by a section of the media.
Dr Gorhe made a memorandum relating to the issue and demanded Dhawankar’s suspension and constitution of SIT for further enquiry into the issues related to the complaint. She has also stated that enquiry into the possibility of sexual exploitation of girl students should also be examined.
Dr Gorhe will also convene a meeting with senior officers of the state government in this connection.
