Panaji, March 27 The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday sought to distance itself from a Goa councillor whose son has been arrested in connection with a sex scandal involving minor girls, stating that he was not a member of the ruling saffron party.
Soham (20), son of Sushant Naik, a member of the Curchorem Municipal Council in south Goa, was arrested by police on March 22.
The accused is facing four FIRs filed under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Goa Children's Act, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act.
The Goa Crime Branch is investigating the scandal, in which Soham Naik is accused of raping minor girls, filming their obscene videos, and circulating them.
Speaking to reporters in Curchorem, BJP leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Tendulkar claimed that Sushant Naik, the father of the accused, was not a party member.
Tendulkar said he had reviewed the list of all party members and found that Sushant Naik was not even a primary member of the BJP.
He maintained that the media had unnecessarily linked the BJP with the scandal, in which the party-led government had given instructions to the police to take tough action against the accused.
"The act (scandal) is shameful, and in no way does the BJP support it. We are condemning the act," the former MP insisted.
The investigation in the case was being conducted in an impartial manner, with the police trying to reach out to the maximum number of victims, Tendulkar asserted.
Meanwhile, a senior officer said that three victims, all minors, have deposed before the police (to give statements) against the accused.