Pune, May 13 (PTI) Nationalist Congress Party's Pune city president Deepak Mankar on Tuesday resigned from the post, a day after he and two others were booked by police for allegedly forging documents to conceal fraudulent financial transactions.

Mankar tendered his resignation to party chief and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar.

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He refuted the allegations against him, claiming that some anti-social elements are defaming him out of jealousy over his rise in politics.

The other two named in the First Information Report are Raunak Jain and Shantanu Kukde.

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Kukde, a former functionary of the Nationalist Congress Party, is already in judicial custody on the charge of raping a woman and a girl under the pretext of offering financial help through his NGO.

Police discovered multiple financial transactions involving the bank accounts of Kukde, Jain, and others, which appeared dubious, according to the police.

A sum of Rs 1.18 crore was transferred from the Red House Foundation's account to Mankar's account between September and October 2024, police said.

Mankar also produced a sale deed document on a stamp paper to support his claim of the land transaction with Jain. However, the scrutiny found that the document was forged, police said.

"An allegation has been levelled against me that I cheated the government in the land deal 3 to 4 years ago, but it has not been proven yet. Without scrutinising the veracity, my political image is being defamed just when the municipal corporation polls are round the corner," said Mankar.

He said NCP is unnecessarily being defamed, and senior leaders in the party are also facing an awkward situation.

"Since becoming the city unit president, I have been working honestly under the leadership of Ajitdada and state party chief Sunilji Tatkare. I am tendering my resignation, and it should be accepted," Mankar stated.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)