HP minister booked for thrashing NHAI officials

An FIR has been registered against Himachal Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Minister Anirudh Singh for allegedly beating up two National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials in Shimla on Monday.

The complainant, Achal Jindal, who is Manager (Technical) with the NHAI, has accused the minister of using abusive language and assaulting him and his colleague, Yogesh, inside a room at Bhattakuffar, where a building had collapsed on Monday morning.

The case has been registered under Sections 132, 121 (1), 352, 126 (2) and 3(5) of the BNS. The minister refused to comment on the FIR registered against him.

As per the FIR, the minister sought information about the collapsed building from the complainant, which he provided. The complainant alleged that the minister used abusive language with him while they were discussing the issue of the collapsed building. “Thereafter, the minister called me and my colleague inside a room of a nearby building belonging to a local resident. Inside the room, the minister started beating me up in the presence of local people and struck me with a water pot on my head, resulting in bleeding. When my colleague tried to save me, he too was attacked,” the complainant alleged in his complaint to the police.

Jindal alleged that no one, including the SDM, Shimla (Rural), tried to save him and his colleague and both of them ran away from the spot and drove to Indira Gandhi Medical College in their vehicle for treatment. At the hospital, medical tests of both NHAI officials were conducted.