Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 4 (IANS) Kerala Public Works Minister P.J. Joseph Monday resigned over allegations that he had misbehaved with a woman passenger during a flight last month.

Joseph submitted his resignation to Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan.

He had allegedly misbehaved with a 53-year-old woman passenger on board the Kingfisher flight from Chennai to Kochi Aug 3. He was under pressure to quit the state cabinet after media reports on the incident.

Joseph denied Monday he had misbehaved with the woman. He said he did not want to continue as minister in the wake of "needless suspicion" and demanded a thorough inquiry into the incident.

The chief minister has accepted the resignation, official sources said.

Inspector General of Police B. Sandhya, who was asked by Achuthanandan to probe the matter, submitted the report on Saturday. She collected evidence from many people travelling on the plane.

Joseph said he would come back to the ministry with his "hands clean".