India, Sept. 5 -- An angry deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar has left his party scrambling to limit the fallout of an altercation he allegedly had with a woman probationary IPS officer, pulling her up for taking action against goons illegally excavating material used in road construction in a village in Solapur. His sarcasm, caught on camera, only made matters worse.

The incident, which took place two days ago, was filmed and is playing on a loop on regional news channels. In the clip, Pawar purportedly speaks to sub-divisional police officer from Solapur, Anjali Krishna, from the phone of an NCP worker, who had sought his intervention in the matter.

But Krishna doesn't recognise Pawar's voice. "I can understand what you're saying, but I...