BJP MLA accuses police chief of assaulting him

A video shows him in a white vest, holding his ‘torn’ kurta in his hands

An MLA of the ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh alleged on Wednesday that the district police chief of Pratapgarh, an IPS officer, assaulted him and tore his clothes when he was in the district magistrate’s office to raise the issue of missing names in the voters’ list for the upcoming panchayat elections.

Abhay Kumar alias Dhiraj Ojha made the allegations in a dramatic fashion, a video of which was widely circulated on social media. The footage shows the MLA walking out of the DM’s office in Pratapgarh in a white vest, holding his ‘torn’ kurta in his hands. The MLA then lies flat on the ground with his hands stretched out and accuses the SP, Akash Tomar, of assaulting him. “Pratapgarh SP beat me a lot. I did not do anything wrong,” the MLA said in Hindi.

“

Yeh bahut khatarnaak aadmi agaya hai. Maar dalega humko (He is a dangerous man. He will get me killed),” said the legislator from Raniganj.

In another video, the MLA can be seen getting into an argument with the SP as he walks out of the office.

However, no footage emerged to corroborate the MLA’s allegations.

In a statement issued later, the Pratapgarh SP said the MLA was making false allegations as he had asked him to stop misbehaving at the DM’s office.

He said when the MLA sat on a dharna against the DM over discrepancies in the voters’ list, he asked the MLA to stop misbehaving. “The DM of Pratapgarh was there with me the entire time. The police have nothing to do with the incident,” the SP said.

Talking to a news channel, Mr. Ojha said he had been struggling for the last three months to get the missing names back into the voters’ list. He said he was talking to the DM when the SP intervened and threatened to shoot him.