Nashik (Maharashtra):Independent MLA from the Achalpur Assembly constituency and former Maharashtra Minister Omprakash alias Bacchu Kadu has been sentenced to two years of rigorous imprisonment for obstructing government work and assaulting the then Municipal Commissioner Abhishek Krishna during a protest in 2017.
Kadu, leader of the Prahar Sanghatana which supports the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government, subsequently secured bail from the court. His lawyer said that they will file an appeal in the High Court against the verdict. Kadu had protested in Nashik Municipal Corporation for the demands of the disabled in 2017 and he hit Nashik commissioner Abhishek Krishna during an argument.
"The court has sentenced me to two years imprisonment but I am not sad because, after my fight for specially-abled people, the government launched a ministry to look into their issues. I am sad about the misappropriation of funds allotted for them," he said.
On July 24, 2017, Kadu, on behalf of the Prahar Association, staged a protest against the NMC alleging that the civic body did not spend the Divyang Welfare Fund where it was needed. Kadu met then-Commissioner Abhishek Krishna and after a verbal argument, abused and assaulted him.
Following the alleged assault, Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) authorities lodged a complaint against him under sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharging his duty) and 504 (intentional insult or provocation) of the IPC.
The case being heard by the court since then and on Wednesday after the police concluded their investigation, District Judge V S Kulkarni sentenced Kadu to two years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000. Speaking to reporters on the premises of the Maharashtra legislature in Mumbai, the MLA said, " I staged the agitation as NMC was not utilising the funds meant for Divyang people. The probe should have been about why the funds are not utilised. We had written to the then-commissioner but he never acted. Funds for Divyang people lay unutilised for more than two years," he alleged.
