Rewa(Madhya Pradesh): The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a Janpad Panchayat in Madhya Pradesh's Rewa district was hospitalised as he was seriously injured after being attacked allegedly by a group, including a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, officials said on Wednesday.
The police have registered a case against 20 persons in this connection, they said.
The incident occurred on Tuesday, soon after an audio clip of a heated phone conversation between the official and BJP MLA K P Tripathi went viral on social media. However, Tripathi denied any involvement in this incident. District collector Manoj Pushp said that Sirmaur Janpad Panchayat's CEO S K Mishra sustained serious injuries in the attack, which took place on Tuesday while he on his way back to office after holding a meeting at Basman Mama Cow Sanctuary, some 40 kms from the district headquarters.
"Police have registered a case against 20 people, including Manish Shukla (BJP's mandal president), Vivek Gautam, Vinay Shukla and others, under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for abduction, attempt to murder, use of criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging duty, among others," Pushp said.
The district collector said that the official is currently undergoing treatment at Sanjay Gandhi Hospital. Before the attack, the audio clip of the purported conversation between MLA Tripathi and the victim had gone viral on WhatsApp. In the audio, the MLA is purportedly heard threatening the officer over some pending works and also abusing him.
When asked about it, Tripathi, who represents the Semariya constituency, dismissed the allegations and said claimed that there was a political conspiracy to tarnish his image. Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) media cell chairman K K Mishra said the BJP legislator was clearly involved in the incident.
"It is clear who attacked the panchayat department official as the incident occurred after the audio clip of his argument with the BJP legislator surfaced. Everything is clear," he said. District BJP president Ajay Singh said the accusations against the legislator are baseless and that the action against the BJP leaders, whose name figured in the case, will be taken after verification of the facts. (PTI)
