Maharashtra Minister Pankaja Munde's Key Aide Arrested Over Wife's Suicide

Anant Garje, the personal assistant to Maharashtra Minister Pankaja Munde, has been arrested by the Worli Police in Mumbai after his wife, Gauri Garje, allegedly died by suicide.

The Worli police arrested Garje early Monday morning, the official said, adding that he will be produced in a court later in the day, PTI reported.

The wife of Anant Garje allegedly took the step at her residence in central Mumbai following a domestic dispute, police had said on Sunday. was found hanging at her home in the Worli area on Saturday evening, an official said.

The couple had tied the knot on February 7. Gauri Palve-Garje was working as a doctor in the dental department of the civic-run KEM Hospital. Their wedding ceremony was attended by a large number of people, including state minister Pankaja Munde and former MP Pritam Munde.

According to the police, Palve's family has alleged that she was tortured and harassed by her husband, which drove her to commit suicide. They have demanded a thorough investigation into her death. 

In their police complaint, Palve's family alleged that Garje had an extra-marital affair, and Palve caught him while chatting with another woman on a mobile phone.

The couple would fight over the issue and Garje allegedly used to threaten his wife, the police said.

Palve's uncle alleged that she did not commit suicide, but it was a case of murder and blamed Garje and his family members for it. He also demanded an in-camera postmortem and a probe into the case by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

However, Anant Garje had told police he was not at home when the incident occurred, and upon returning, he found the door locked from the inside. He claimed that he entered his 30th-floor flat through a window from the 31st floor and found Gauri hanging.

(With inputs from PTI)