Ahmedabad: BJP today suspended its Gandhinagar-based member Ashok Makwana who was arrested yesterday by the city police for molesting a minor girl on a Goa-Ahmedabad flight.
“Gujarat BJP president Vijay Rupani suspended Ashok Makwana from party’s primary membership with immediate effect,” said state BJP’s general secretary K C Patel.
Makwana (41), a labour contractor, had been offered the post of vice president of Gandhinagar city unit recently but he had declined citing his busy schedule.
Sardarnagar police here yesterday arrested him for allegedly molesting a 13-year-old girl on board a Goa-Ahmedabad flight of IndiGo Airlines on May 29.
He was booked under section 354-A of IPC (sexual harassment) and sections 11 and 12 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
According to the FIR filed by the girl’s parents, a male passenger sitting next to their daughter (who was travelling alone) sexually harassed her during the journey by trying to touch her several times and making inappropriate gestures.
Police identified him as Makwana from the passenger’s list.