THANE, Sept. 24 -- A sessions court in Bhiwandi on Wednesday refused to grant interim protection from arrest to former BJP MLA Narendra Pawar, accused of gang-raping a 22-year-old married woman along with dismissed police constable Shailesh Patil at Patil's secluded farmhouse along National Highway 3 between Bhiwandi and Kalyan on September 13. The court said the allegations against the accused were serious and that it was necessary to hear both the investigating team and the victim before deciding Pawar's anticipatory bail plea. The plea was placed before additional sessions judge ND Karande at the Bhiwandi court on Wednesday. The court summoned the victim and the investigating officer for a hearing on Thursday. In view of the seriousness of the allegations and the need to hear the investigating team and the victim, the court held that it would not be appropriate to grant interim protection to Pawar and rejected the plea. Pawar and Patil have been absconding since the gangrape allegations surfaced, with a series of previous criminal cases, particularly those involving Patil, also coming under scrutiny. A case of gang rape was registered against Pawar at Padgha Police Station last week under Sections 64(1) (punishment for the offence of rape), 70(1) (penalises gang rape), 351(2) (criminal intimidation) and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and Sections 3 and 25 (acquire a firearm or ammunition without a valid licence) of the Arms Act. According to the complaint filed by the woman, she had sought Pawar's intervention in a long-standing dispute with her husband and came into contact with him through social media. She alleged that Pawar later sent his associate, Patil, to pick her up in his car and take her to Patil's farmhouse in Bapgaon. where she was raped by both men at the farmhouse. Police said the CCTVs and digital evidence were removed from the farmhouse by the accused....