Two women from Telangana have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) party MP Balka Suman of sexual harassment.
Demanding action against the Peddapalle MP, the women have alleged that the state police refused to book a case against the senior leader.
According to media reports, the women wrote to the Prime Minister's office with the help of two advocates and journalists.
After the news went viral, Telangana police held a press meet and claimed that the women, hailing from Mancherial district, had morphed a photo of the MP and tried to blackmail him, for which a case had been registered in February this year.
Speaking to reporters, Mancherial Circle Inspector, who was the investigating officer in the case, held up two photos.
One of the photos showed Suman with his wife and child which he had posted on Facebook. The police stated that the accused had cropped the photo and morphed another woman's photo in place of his wife.
"These photos were circulated on social media with an intent to defame and blackmail the MP. On February 6, we arrested them (the women) and sent them to remand. Recently, they started circulating the photos in Hyderabad as well," the investigating officer told reporters.
The police claimed that the accused women have cheated at least 20 to 30 people in Macherial, Karimnagar and Chandrapur in the past 8 years.
The police also claimed that the documents were going to be submitted to the court soon and they were collecting more evidence.
Meanwhile, reports suggest that Balka Suman had said that two women and two men had trespassed into his private property at Banjara Hills in Hyderabad, which had then led to an altercation.
A separate police complaint was filed in this regard by his personal assistant, following which the women had accused the TRS MP of sexual harassment.
After joining TRS in 2001, Balka Suman played an important role in the Telangana agitation for separate statehood, spearheading protests at Osmania University, which had become the epicentre of dissent during the movement.