BJP leader held for slapping Ballia DM

Tribune News Service
Lucknow, April 2

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A BJP leader has been arrested in Ballia district in eastern Uttar Pradesh for slapping District Magistrate Bhawani Singh Khangarot.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took cognisance of the incident after the video purportedly showing BJP leader Vinod Tiwari slapping the DM went viral on social media.

A tehsildar of the district, Gulab Chand, who at that time was present in the DM’s office, later filed an FIR under IPC sections 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation if threat be to cause death or grievous hurt).

The District Magistrate had summoned the BJP leader as he had charges of violation of the model code of conduct against him. He however, started raising a raucous in the DM’s office, allegedly indulging in fist-fighting with a revenue officer, abusing the DM and finally slapping him. Tiwari reportedly threatened the DM saying: “I was in jail for two months. You don’t know Ballia’s politicians”.

According to the Ballia DM, the BJP leader has several criminal cases pending against him, which are being investigated.

The Ballia incident comes a day after BJP sitting MP from Farukhabad Mukesh Rajput threatened Department of Power Executive Engineer Pankaj Agarwal who had refused to give him the Power Department’s ‘no objection certificate’, which has to be mandatorily attached to the election affidavit this time.

In his complaint to Returning Officer Monika Rani, Agarwal alleged that the BJP MP had not paid his electricity bills for the last seven years due to which the MP was not eligible for an NOC. The MP then allegedly threatened to beat up the executive engineer and not even spare his family.

Agarwal has requested the returning officer for security for himself and his family against possible harm by the sitting BJP MP. Denying the charges, Rajput said that he had called the executive engineer regarding some inflated bills after which he turned abusive.

Last month, Sant Kabir Nagar sitting BJP MP Sharad Tripathi had thrashed his own party’s MLA Rakesh Kumar Baghel over taking credit for a development project during the District Planning Committee meeting where cabinet ministers and senior officials were in attendance.