Ashwajit Gaikwad has a wife and child, and was never in a relationship with Priya Singh, the beautician and social media influencer who has accused him of abuse and assault, the former’s family has said. In a statement, exclusively accessed by News18, the family also denied Priya’s allegation that Ashwajit tried to mow her down with his car.
Ashwajit Gaikwad, the son of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) Joint MD Anil Gaikwad, and two others — Romil Patil and Sagar Shelke — have been booked under Indian Penal Code sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 279 (rash driving), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and others at the Kasarvadavali police station.
As per the FIR and social media posts put out by Priya Singh, the incident took place in the wee hours of December 11 near Courtyard Hotel on Ghodbunder Road of Thane City. In her posts, 26-year-old Priya Singh has claimed she had been dating 34-year-old Ashwajit Gaikwad for three years.
She has alleged that Ashwajit and his friends invited her to the hotel at 3am where an argument ensued following which the bureaucrat’s son and his friends allegedly assaulted her and attempted to mow her down under Ashwajit’s SUV, running over her leg in the process. She has demanded that IPC Section 302 (attempt to murder) be added to the charges.
Ashwajit’s family, however, has denied the accusations, saying he was never in a relationship with Priya Singh and had left the hotel with his wife at 1:30am that night. In a statement, the family also claimed that it was Priya who texted Ashwajit Gaikwad, insisting on meeting him, and crashed the party at the hotel when he ignored her texts.
“Ashwajit and Priya are only friends. They have been a part of the larger friends’ circle. They were never dating. In fact, Ashwajit has a four-year-old child,” said a family member.
“She (Priya Singh) reached the Courtyard Hotel and barged into the party. She barged in where Ashwajit was with his friends and family. She was intoxicated and just because Ashwajit did not respond to her calls and texts at midnight, this girl started abusing and hitting him and his friends,” the statement said.
The statement further alleges that Ashwajit disclosed he had given her money on several occasions, a claim denied by Priya.
“Need justice… Culprit Ashwajit Anilkumar Gaikwad, son of Anilkumar Gaikwad, Joint Managing Director of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation,” said Priya Singh in her post, also naming Ashwajit’s friends Romil Patil, Prasad Patil and Sagar Shelke, all Thane residents. She also named Ashwajit’s driver Shiva in her posts.
“My boyfriend rammed his car over me and left me dying in pain on the street,” she wrote. She alleged that following the argument with Ashwajit, she went to collect her bag and mobile phone from his SUV when the men attacked her. She has alleged that they first tried to bulldoze the SUV into her back near a divider, then returned and drove it over her right leg before speeding away. She reportedly suffered injuries to her stomach, back, and arms, and her right leg is in a cast. She is currently admitted to the ICU at Infinity Hospital in Thane.
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