Army officer, son thrashed for seeking GST bill in Ranchi, probe ordered

An Indian Army officer and his son, who were beaten for seeking a GST bill after the purchase of firecrackers filed a complaint against the shop owner at Gonda Police Station. In a cross FIR, a staff member of the shop complained that Col. Singh and his son for abusing and misbehaving after not getting a discount.

Ranchi (Jharkhand):An Army officer and his son have been thrashed at a shop in Ranchi following an argument over seeking a GST bill after purchasing firecrackers on Diwali that took an aggressive turn. The father-son duo was allegedly beaten up with an iron rod. According to police, "A complaint in this regard has been lodged at the Gonda police station by the Colonel's son Ishan Singh on Wednesday, in which Vimal Singhania, the shop owner has been accused of directing 15-20 people to assault both father and son." Ishan Singh in his complaint mentioned that "on seeking the GST bill after the purchase of fire-crackers on October 24, the shopkeeper said no GST bill is given to the customers.

"When we tried to discuss the matter with the shop owner Vimal Singhania, people present in the shop began hitting us. My father works in the Indian Army and is currently posted in Ganga Nagar, Rajasthan was also thrashed. Later, we were hit with an iron rod. Both of us sustained injuries in this attack", Ishan said in his complaint.

Colonel Singh said, " It is very sad that we were thrashed just for asking for a GST bill. One of the employees of the shop Raju Munda filed a false case of SC-ST against him and his son." Col. Singh further alleged that the shop owner's brother Kamal Singhania apologised and sent sweets and crackers to his house to withdraw the case.

"We will fight a legal battle against the shop owner so that this never happens to anyone else. If they do not get justice from the police, they will go up to court. We will also disclose details of the case to Jharkhand Governor Ramesh Bais", the colonel added. Station House Officer (SHO) Ravi Thakur said, "A case has been registered at the behest of the colonel's son. An FIR has also been registered on the application of one of Singhania's staff Rajendra Munda. Rajendra has said in his statement that the colonel was asking for a discount on firecrackers. Upon being refused the discount, they started abusing and misbehaving with the staff. The police are examining the CCTV footage installed outside the shop today."