The Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Iglas (reserved) constituency in Aligarh district, Rajkumar Sahyogi, alleged on Wednesday that he was beaten up by policemen, including the SHO, and his clothes were torn off when he went to protest over an FIR registered against a VHP worker at the Gonda police station in Iglas tehseel.
Senior police officers said they were checking the CCTV footage before taking any action.
Scores of local BJP workers assembled at the Gonda police station and raised slogans against the police. The local market was shut and police presence increased on Wednesday evening.
Local sources said a few days ago there was a fracas between members of two communities in Gonda over a minor issue and the MLA was angry why an FIR was registered against his man.
Earlier, Mr. Sahyogi told reporters that he went to the police station to ask officers why an FIR was registered against Rohit Varshney, a VHP worker, in the case. He alleged that the local police had taken money from the other party. “In the fight, Rohit was beaten up still the police lodged an FIR against him. When I raised the issue, three officers, including SHO Anuj Saini, beat me up and used casteist slurs against me,” he said.
Responding to the allegations, Atul Sharma, SP (Rural), Aligarh told The Hindu , “In the said case, the FIR was registered against both the parties after the complaint came from both Rohit and Saleem. A medical was done and none of them had serious injuries. Preliminary investigation reveals that the MLA raised an objection on why the second FIR was lodged.”
A chowkidar posted at the station told reporters that he was present at the spot at the time of the incident and it was Mr. Sahyogi who lost his cool first and slapped a police officer.
“We are looking into the CCTV footage before arriving at any conclusion. The police station has two cameras and one of them was working at the time of the incident,” Mr. Sharma said.
