In her complaint to the Thane Nagar Police (Case No: 505/98) today, Ukke's wife Vibha (38) alleges that her husband has been harassing her ever since he entered into an extra-marital relationship with a married 20-year-old woman in 1994. Vibha, an airhostess with Indian Airlines, claims in her First Information Report (FIR), that he beat her repeatedly and even pushed her down the staircase at their Saket Towers residence in Thane to intimidate her into concealing his illicit relationships.

She says in her FIR that she has thus far refrained from lodging a complaint with the police to spare her husband the consequent embarassment as he is a senior government official. Ukke is currently managing director of the Mumbai-based Maharashtra Agro Industries Development Corporation of the state government'sDepartment of Agriculture.

The first illicit relationship lasted about a year while the second, with a 23-year-old unmarried woman and which allegedly began in 1996, continues till date, she says in her FIR.

Vibha, who has two daughters aged 14 and eight and who are at a boarding school in Panchgani, also claims that her husband refuses to contribute towards the household expenses. However, she says the torture became unbearable, which is why she finally decided to lodge a police complaint, according to the FIR.

She has complained to the authorities only once before, when she approached the state chief secretary in Octber-November 1997, saying she was being subjected to extreme harassment and urging him to transfer her husband out of Thane.

Ukke, an Indian Administrative Service officer of the 1985 batch from the Maharashtra cadre, was appointed collector of Thane in 1994. He held the post till February-March 1998.