BSP MLA slaps cop

Twenty-four hours later,the police had not even lodged an FIR,not to talk of arresting the MLA and his men,in spite of protests in the town. Rather,efforts were on to persuade constable Chahan Singh Balyan to agree for a compromise.

In the meantime,56-year-old Balyan has developed angina pain and had to be hospitalised. Asked why no action had been taken,Meerut DIG Jai Narain Singh said,“SP (City) Prabal Pratap Singh is conducting an inquiry and a case will be registered after his report is received.”

The DIG,though,admitted that the constable,who is a driver of a police patrol van and is posted with the Reserve Police Lines,was manhandled by the MLA and his men. He did not suffer any injury,but his uniform got torn,the DIG said.

In February 2006,Haji Yakub Qureshi hit the headlines when he publicly announced a reward of Rs 51 crore for anyone who would behead a Danish cartoonist for making a caricature of Prophet Mohammad.

Qureshi,who is also a historysheeter,gave an entirely different account of the incident which took place in the presence of several policemen. “The constable was drunk and was misbehaving with people. When I was passing by,some people complained to me. As I tried to talk to the constable,he misbehaved with me too,” the MLA said.

Qureshi said he did not manhandle the constable,but asked other policemen around to take him away. “The allegation against me about beating up the constable is baseless,” he said.

The constable’s son,Deepak,said his father is in shock after the incident. “An officer visited our house around 1 am and told my father to make a compromise with the MLA,” he said. Deepak said he was not aware of any inquiry being conducted into the matter,as “no official has contacted my father or any other family member in this regard.”

According to details collected by Deepak,his father,along with other policemen,was deployed at Hapur Adda crossing in view of the Ravidas Jayanti procession. He stopped a fleet of vehicles to divert it away from the procession route when three men in the lead vehicle got down and started hurling abuses. Other policemen gathered and told the men to behave. Soon,the MLA got down from a Scorpio,walked up to the constable,caught him from the collar and allegedly slapped him on the face. The legislator’s men then manhandled the constable and tore off his uniform.

Overawed by the MLA’s presence,the other policemen,including Circle Officer of Civil Lines Satpal Singh,just watched. Later,the constable lodged a complaint with the CO. Munkad Ali,BSP’s Rajya Sabha MP and zonal coordinator for west UP,said the party leadership was seized of the matter. “Our national president Mayawati has been apprised of the matter. She will decide on this issue,” he said,while claiming the constable was not manhandled. “There was only some heated exchange between the supporters of the legislator and the policemen.”

NO ACTION IN OLD CASE

For the last six months,the state government has been sitting on the Meerut administration’s request to prosecute Haji Yaqoob Qureshi for publicly announcing a reward of Rs 51 crore on the head of the Danish cartoonist who had made a caricature of Prophet Mohammad. Qureshi had made the announcement while addressing a gathering at the Faiz-e-Azam College in Meerut after Friday prayers on February 17,2006. He was then the Minister for Minority Welfare in the Mulayam Singh Yadav government. The Meerut police investigated the case,lodged at the Delhi Gate police station,and sent a report to the district administration on July 13 last year,requesting for permission to prosecute the MLA. In turn,the district administration forwarded it to the state government. Asked about the status of the case,Home Secretary Anand Kumar said,“I will have to check the record.”

BEACON OF NO HOPE

The MLA is not the only man against whom the government is reluctant to take action for threatening a government servant on duty. In January this year,a man driving a red-beaconed vehicle had aimed a revolver at Home Guard platoon commander Brijbhan Yadav when asked not to park in the no-parking zone in Hazratganj. As a small crowd gathered,the man drove away. Yadav later lodged a complaint with the Hazratganj police station the same day,but the police are yet to lodge an FIR.