Bhopal: The Gwalior Police has booked Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) MP Malook Nagar, Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Atul Pradhan, Congress MLA Rakesh Mawai, and Azad Samaj Party member Ravindra Bhatia, along with 200 others, for inciting riot and causing public mischief during a mahasabha of the Gurjar community in the city Monday.
While both Nagar and Pradhan represent Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, and Mawai is a legislator from Morena, Madhya Pradesh.
They were identified along with 35 others and booked under Sections 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 505 (giving statements that cause public mischief), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in an FIR registered Tuesday.
Speaking to ThePrint, Superintendent of Police (SP), Gwalior, Rajesh Singh Chandel said, “There are five FIRs across four different police stations. We are in the process of identifying those involved in the violence based on the videos available. All those who were present on the dais and were responsible for inciting the crowd will be booked.”
According to the complaint filed Tuesday by Shatruhan Singh Chouhan, an employee of Gwalior District Collectorate, members of the Gurjar community arrived at the Collectorate around 4 pm Monday to submit a memorandum to the district collector but allegedly turned violent. It said 90-100 members of the community armed with rods and sticks tried to barge in, pelting stones, damaging vehicles of district officials and the glass facade of the building.
Police officials said members of the mahasabha had sought permission to hold ‘Janjagran’ of the community to promote the teachings of Hari Giri Maharaj, a spiritual leader of the community. The event, however, allegedly turned into a discussion on the alleged atrocities on members of the community and how the statue of Raja Mihir Bhoj, a former ruler belonging to the community, was covered with tin sheets by the district administration. They further demanded formation of a Gurjar regiment.
Police personnel deployed at the venue, the Phool Baugh square, urged the gathering to hand over their memorandum to the closest police station, but they took out a rally towards the Collectorate instead, said police.
The alleged violence continued for about 45 minutes and police had to resort to lathi charge and tear gas to control the crowd.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
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