PONDA: The additional district and sessions court, Ponda, on Saturday rejected the anticipatory bail pleas filed by Mangueshi temple priest Dhananjay Bhave in two cases. After the development, police said the priest was not traceable and launched a search for him.

The 51-year-old priest is accused of outraging the modesty of two young women devotees, while they were performing sacred rituals at Shree Manguesh Devasthan, Mangueshi, in Ponda taluka, on two different occasions, on June 14 and 22.

Arguments on both the pleas were completed on last Friday, and the matter was adjourned for order on this Saturday.

Last Friday, the prosecution had opposed the anticipatory bail pleas filed by the priest before the additional sessions court and sought his custodial interrogation.

Public prosecutor Satyavan Raut Dessai had argued that the accused, being a priest, is an influential person and can interfere with the evidence. He said the accused could also threaten the witnesses if released on bail. The witnesses statements are being recorded, the public prosecutor told the court.

Prosecution said the gravity of the offences had intensified with the filing of two molestation cases and the accused could be an habitual offender.

The lawyer representing Bhave, Shashikant Joshi had claimed that his client is a gentleman and would not flee if bail was granted to him. Bhave would also cooperate in the investigations, he had said. Joshi had also termed the complaints against his client as a conspiracy.

A formal FIR was filed by one of the victims at the Ponda police station on July 19, while the second one was filed on July 22. Both the girls are of Goan origin and are studying in the US.