Days after Nana Patekar was accused of harassment by Tanushree Dutta, Maharashtra Minister of State (Home) Deepak Kesarkar has voiced his support for Patekar saying that someone of his stature cannot be accused in this manner.
In a recent media interaction, the minister said, "Unless there is a complaint you can't accuse a person of his status because he isn't only an actor, but also a very well known social worker."
According to various media reports, Dutta was provided police protection owing to the ongoing controversy. However, Kesarkar stated that the former beauty queen was not given protection against Nana Patekar. "Protection has been given against certain incidents that had happened and not against Nana Patekar," he stated.
The incident in question is the one wherein Dutta's car was attacked when she was exiting the sets of film 'Horn Ok Pleasss' post alleged misbehavior by the Patekar.
The Minister hinted that the attackers were not connected to Nana Patekar. "It is now known to everybody that they (attackers) were not connected to anyone, it is her personal fight with somebody. Those people have attacked and they have admitted that they have attacked so protection was given," he explained.
Dutta recently alleged that Patekar misbehaved with her on the sets of the film 'Horn Ok Pleasss'. She had accused him of harassing her while shooting for a special dance number in the movie, and also claimed that dance choreographer Ganesh Acharya teamed up against her.
The 'Aashiq Banaya Aapne' actor further said that she and her family were attacked after she declined to perform the intimate step.
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Many B-town celebrities have previously shown their support for Dutta including Priyanka Chopra, Parineeti Chopra, Farhan Akhtar, Swara Bhaskar, Shilpa Shetty, Kalki Koechlin, and Sonam Kapoor Ahuja. The Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Maneka Gandhi also stood in support of the actor.
Meanwhile, Patekar's lawyer reportedly sent a legal notice to Dutta, demanding a written apology from her for maligning his image.