Bhopal: Abhigyan Patel, the son of Madhya Pradesh minister Narendra Shivaji Patel, allegedly flaunted his connection to a woman when she tried to stop his group from assaulting a journalist outside her restaurant as well as inside a police station, ThePrint has learnt.
Abhigyan did not stop there as he and his friends hit her with a rod and attacked her husband with a flower pot, the restaurant owner and complainant Alisha Saxena alleged in her FIR.
Her husband Denis Martin was left profusely bleeding while shards of her glasses injured her eye, Alisha mentions in the FIR.
The accused has now been booked by the police for assaulting the couple and a journalist in what appears to be a case triggered by road rage in the state’s capital Bhopal.
On Saturday night, Abhigyan and his friends were travelling in a SUV that bumped onto a scooter of the journalist, Vivek Singh, at a traffic signal. This, according to Singh, led to a chase that ended with the group of men intercepting and thrashing him.
In her FIR, Alisha stated that on hearing shouting, she stepped out of her restaurant and spotted a few men getting out of a white Innova and beating up a man.
“When I asked why are you beating the man, two of them — one wearing a white kurta and other wearing a black T-shirt — began abusing me. The man in white kurta then said, ‘My name is Abhigyan Patel, and I am the son of a minister. What will you do? We will vandalise your restaurant and you will also vanish; no one will realise it,” the FIR reads.
The episode has blown into a full-blown controversy as it has come to light that Patel, a first-time minister, and his aides reached the Shahpura police station way past midnight.
According to police sources, Patel refused to speak to the personnel there and demanded the presence of the DCP and the ACP. Patel alleged that his son was beaten up at the police station following which four policemen have been suspended.
आज के समाचार पत्रों में यह ज्वलंत मुद्दा है कि मोहन यादव सरकार के एक मंत्री के परिवार के सदस्यों ने आतंक मचा रखा है।
बेटा अभी भी खुला घूम रहा है, मंत्री जी थाने में आए और 4 पुलिस वालों को सस्पेंड कर दिया गया। पीड़ितों की कोई सुनवाई नहीं हो रही है।
मुख्यमंत्री जी स्वयं गृहमंत्री… pic.twitter.com/cejW9YJHcz
— MP Congress (@INCMP) March 31, 2024
The Minister of State for Public Health and Medical Education was summoned to the BJP office and pulled up for showing up at the police station and throwing a scene there, senior party leaders told ThePrint.
“No one is above the law. A case has been registered and the law will take its course,” BJP state president V.D. Sharma told the media Monday.
Recounting the trauma, Alisha told ThePrint that Abhigyan and his other friend allegedly arrived soon after she, her husband along with their cook and Vivek Singh’s entry at the police station.
“Inside the police station, he had the audacity to tell me that do what you have to, we will see you afterwards. He constantly kept on bragging that he is a minister’s son. I want to know whether his father has been made a minister to work for the welfare of the citizens, or to protect his son who beats up citizens,” Alisha told ThePrint.
Alisha is worried if she will be able to resume operations normally after the episode. “I am an MBA degree holder and can get a job, but we choose to run a restaurant and do business because we have a child with autism. What are the chances that a man who threatened me before the police inside a police station will not harm me later on?”
Vivek Singh, who sustained minor injuries, recalled the sequence of events that led to the scuffle on Saturday night. He was heading home from work, when he stopped at the signal as it turned red, the journalist said.
“Abhigyan’s SUV lightly bumped onto my bike. I turned back and objected. They rolled down their window and began abusing me,” he told ThePrint
Realising that he would be overpowered if it came to a scuffle, Singh said he tried to flee from there. “They chased me and stopped me by swerving their vehicle before my scooter on the main road. A group of 4-5 people then got out of the vehicle and thrashed me,” Vivek told The Print.
Meanwhile, Abhigyan and his friend were booked under Sections 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 294 (obscenity), (criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC.
“The suspension of the policemen was following the complaint that they beat up the accused at the police station. An FIR has been registered based on the complaint of the lady. A complaint has also been made from Abhigyan’s friend against the couple,” ACP Mayank Khandelwal told ThePrint.
On Sunday, the couple accompanied by Congress state president Jitu Patwari demanded that stringent sections of attempt to murder be added to the FIR.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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This is just the tip of the iceberg. So many instances of abuse of power by BJP leaders are coming to light. I hope journalists like D K Singh will realize how dangerous impact Modi’s flaunting and misusing of power has on BJP leaders. It seems as if the “JAMIDAAR-RAAJ” has come back again.