Satara police question Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar in defamation case

Nationalist Congress Party (SP) leader Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar was questioned for six hours on Friday in the defamation and extortion case involving Maharashtra rural development minister Jaykumar Gore.

Officials from Satara police confirmed the development and said the team reached the residence of Nimbalkar and questioned him for almost six hours from 10 am to 2:30 pm.

In the first week of May, Satara police summoned Nimbalkar and 11 others in connection with a case involving a woman, who had levelled harassment charges against Gore but was later arrested for an extortion bid.

Notices summoning Nimbalkar and others were issued on May 1 by the Vaduj police, who are probing the case in which the woman from Satara was arrested for allegedly accepting ₹1 crore as extortion money.

Considering his health issues, Nimbalkar’s lawyer asked the police for more time, but even after they were not produced in front of the police. Hence, on Friday, a team of police reached Nimbalkar’s residence.

In March 2025, the woman had allegedly sought ₹3 crore from Gore, threatening to stage a protest outside the Raj Bhavan and accuse him of rape if the money was not paid to her, police said.

The woman was subsequently arrested on March 21 along with two others while allegedly accepting ₹1 crore and is currently in police custody, they said.

“During the technical probe, some text messages, call records, and audio messages came to light. Based on that, 12 persons, including Nimbalkar and NCP (SP) leader and former MLA Prabhakar Gharge, have been summoned for inquiry,” a police official from Satara said.